KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A Wednesday night vehicle crash involving a power pole seriously injured the driver and left thousands of residents without power for a few hours.
The wreck occurred shortly after 10 p.m. half a mile north of the Kit's Corner intersection near Kelseyville, according to reports from the scene.
A deputy arriving at the crash found the overturned vehicle badly damaged and the pole sheared, with the male driver – the vehicle's lone occupant – needing to be extricated, scanner reports indicated.
The power in the area went out immediately, with first responders reporting that the signal lights at the intersections at Kit's Corner and at Highway 29 and Live Oak Drive were out.
Central Dispatch received numerous calls from residents around Kelseyville and Cobb reporting their power was off. Pacific Gas & Electric's initial assessment was that 2,848 customers were without power.
The driver was extricated from the vehicle and taken by ambulance to a landing zone at Kit's Corner, where a CalStar air ambulance picked him up and transported him to UC Davis Medical Center for treatment of major injuries, reports from the scene stated.
Traffic control was established temporarily around the crash as firefighters and PG&E worked at the scene, according to radio reports.
PG&E crews arrived shortly before 11 p.m. and within the next few hours many area residents reported power was restored.
The California Highway Patrol reported that the roadway was reopened at around midnight.
As of 1:30 a.m., the power was back on for all but 34 customers, with their power expected to be restored by 8 a.m. Thursday, according to PG&E.
Additional information about the crash was not immediately available.
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