A BC Hydro crew is working on a downed utility pole at the corner of Burnside Road West and Harriet Road, in front of the 7/11, a situation that left around 3,500 customers in the immediate area without power.
While official word on the cause of the downed pole has not been conformed, a police officer on the scene said it appeared a garbage truck may have clipped the pole on its way by.
The intersection was closed in all four directions as police do traffic control in the area. Drivers are advised to avoid the area and take alternate routes into and out of town.
Power has since been restored to the majority of the customers affected by the outage, by at 1:20 p.m. a BC Hydro outage map showed 328 customers remained without power, with the estimated time back on 6 p.m. No injuries are believed to have occurred as a result of the pole coming down.
Kate Seymour, who lives in a building near the intersection, said she heard a “huge loud bang and all the power went out.”
“I went out to the balcony and I saw this power pole just splintered,” she said. “I’m not sure what happened.”
Seymour was concerned about the power outage. Her mother is with her in the apartment and is using a portable oxygen machine, with her electrically powered unit unavailable.
Intersection is closed at Harriet Rd and Burnside Ave after a hydro pole snapped #yyjtraffic pic.twitter.com/yOpnrMr7Sy
— Victoria News (@VictoriaNews) May 3, 2018
