Power pole catches fire, causes explosion

Although a flaming power pole in Lakeside caused an explosion, no structures or people were threatened by the fire around 8:30 p.m. Monday.

The fire’s cause is unknown.

“It started burning pretty good and then the transformer arced,” Peter Scott, who witnessed the fire, wrote in an e-mail to the Inter Lake.

“It was a huge boom that really shook the place and the burst of light and flame was spectacular. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Scott wrote.

The grass around the flaming pole caught on fire and Somers-Lakeside Fire crews couldn’t go near the pole until crews from Bonneville Power Administration showed up to cut off power to the high-voltage lines.

Then fire crews were able to extinguish the small grass fire.