At 10:10pm on Thursday night a vehicle struck the guide wires to a utility pole on Hwy115 between the Imboden Fire Station and the Sloan Hendrix Gym.
The vehicle headed north on Hwy 115 crossed the centerline and entered the ditch on the opposite side of the road striking the guide wire. The pole attached was broken off about 15 feet above ground causing power to be disrupted to Entergy customers located out Hwy 115.
There were no injuries reported in the accident and very little damage to the mini van involved as well.
Imboden Water Department and the Imboden Volunteer Fire Department assisted Energy with traffic control while crews from Entergy worked throught the night to restore power. The power was restored shortly before 3am. Medic-One Ambulance Service also had a unit on standby at the fair grounds, those personel checked the driver at the scene for injuries. The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office investigated the accident.
Note from the Editor: In response to questions concerning dangers involved in the power outage with the fair in town. Imboden Fire Chief Chris Jones was notified when the accident happened, Chief Jones stated that firemen on the scene were in contact with the carinval workers and the rides were empty because the carnival was closed at the time of the accident.
Chief Jones also told ImbodenLive that the Carinval rides do not run on commercial power, they are run by large generators provided by the Carnival. In the event of power outages they are able to evacuate any and all riders. Most of the outage disrupted private residences but did disrupt events that were going on inside the rodeo arena.
Also, during the fair and rodeo there are medical units staged at the fairgrounds and members of the Imboden Volunteer Fire Department are roaming the crowds almost constantly in the event of an accident. Chief Jones stated that he wants to be “Proactive instead of Reactive” in the event of a medical emergency or any type of call that would put the public in danger. The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department also has deputies staged the the fairgrounds for safety reasons. We want our fair to be safe and enjoyable to all.
