Power cut after driver knocks down pole
A crew from Flathead Electric Cooperative works to put up a new power pole Wednesday morning after a driver knocked over a pole on Woodland Park Drive, temporarily cutting power to area businesses and homes. Nate Chute/Daily Inter Lake
The Daily Inter Lake
No one was injured Wednesday morning when a car on Woodland Park Drive drove off the road and into a utility pole.
The collision knocked over the utility pole, sending wires across the road and cutting power to about 1,145 residents in Evergreen and Kalispell, according to the Flathead Electric Cooperative.
Several traffic lights on U.S. 2 between Montana 35 and Third Avenue East North in Kalispell also stopped working.
Electricity was restored to most residents by noon Wednesday, according to Flathead Electric Cooperative spokeswoman Wendy Ostrom Price.
According to the Montana Highway Patrol, the driver of a Honda Accord was on Woodland Park Drive about 7:40 a.m. Wednesday when he fell asleep at the wheel, veered off the road and hit the utility pole.
The driver and his two passengers, who were on their way to a nearby home, were not injured. The trio had stopped for breakfast at a Kalispell restaurant, and investigators found remnants of the meal - specifically a pancake - in the front of the car.
Troopers cited the driver for careless driving, driving without a license, and failure to wear a seat belt, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Jason Fetterhoff said.
The Evergreen Fire Department and Kalispell Fire Department responded to the scene.