Fiery vehicle crash in East Anchorage causes Sunday power outage

Update, 7 p.m. Sunday: Temporary generators restored power Sunday afternoon to the 52 customers impacted by the outage, a spokeswoman for Chugach Electric said. The repairs to the transformer could not be finished Sunday night but a crew plans to have the repairs completed by Monday night.

Original story:

A truck slammed into a Chugach Electric transformer early Sunday and knocked it off the pad mount, a spokeswoman for the company said. The truck went up in flames and power was cut to 2,200 people just after 4:30 a.m. as firefighters extinguished the blaze.

Power was restored to most of the area by 6 a.m., but spokeswoman Julie Hasquet said 52 customers were still without power near 16th Avenue and Muldoon Road over 7 hours after the crash. The company began setting up generators to provide a temporary power source as they continue with repairs.

The outage coincides with one of the coldest days of the season. Temperatures are expected to drop Sunday in Anchorage and could reach 0 degrees overnight, meteorologists said.

Hasquet said the crash caused extensive damage and it’s unclear exactly how long repairs could take, but “it’s going to take awhile.”

No one was injured in the crash, according to an online alert sent by police. It’s unclear what caused the crash or if any citations were issued.

It’s not uncommon for vehicles to crash into power poles or equipment, Hasquet said, but the extent of damage that came from this crash is rare. Hasquet said the crash severed cables.

The crash comes less than a day after a car hit a switch cabinet near Bragaw Street and the Glenn Highway Saturday and caused widespread outage. Municipal Light and Power said the 2,800 customers regained power Saturday.