Anchorage

Construction site accident leads to power outage for more than 1,000 around Midtown Anchorage

More than 1,000 Anchorage homes and businesses were temporarily without power Friday evening after an accident at a construction site, authorities said.

Anchorage police responded to reports of “an accident at a construction site” in the area of East 36th Avenue and Lake Otis Parkway shortly after 4:30 p.m., Anchorage Police Department spokesperson Amanda Brimanis said in an email.

“As a result of the accident, power has been interrupted by Chugach Electric,” she wrote.

Chugach Electric Association said in a social media post that, at the request of the Anchorage Fire Department, the company “had to de-energize a circuit after a contractor crew dug into a line.” More than 1,400 members were without power in the Midtown and Tudor areas as of 6:30 p.m. Friday, according to the company’s online outage tracker.

Many traffic lights were out in the area Friday evening. In an alert, Anchorage police reminded drivers to treat blacked-out traffic lights as a stop sign.

In a social media post, Chugach Electric said power had been restored by 7 p.m. Friday.

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