SUV crash, repairs lead to DRW power outage

A Bend woman escaped serious injury when her SUV hit a power pole in Deschutes River Woods, south of Bend Sunday afternoon, but about 1,000 Pacific Power customers lost power for about an hour later in the day as repair crews replaced the wooden pole, which was shattered at the base.

Helen Smith, 75, was treated by medics at the scene but did not need to go to the hospital after the crash, reported around 12:40 p.m. at Baker and Apache roads, said Deschutes County sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Dizney said. While the cause of the crash was under investigation, Dizney said there were no indications drugs or alcohol played a role.

Pacific Power spokesman Paul Vogel said crews took more than 1,000 customers off-line around 6:30 p.m. to reroute power so the pole could be replaced. All but the one adjacent customer had service restored about an hour later, he said.

It was the second time in five days that a crash into a power pole led to an outage in DRW affecting more than 1,000 customers. An SUV struck a pole on River Woods Drive on Christmas Eve and the two occupants fled, though the driver later was arrested. The resulting outage affected nearly 1,300 residents for several hours.