SUV hits Prineville pole, nearly 1,000 lose power

An SUV crashed into a power pole in Prineville early Sunday morning, causing major damage to the pole and car and knocking out power to nearly 1,000 area residents for several hours, officials said.

Prineville police said in a Facebook posting that “medical issues were possibly a factor” in the crash on Highway 26 of a Jeep Grand Cherokee into the Pacific Power pole. No further information about the driver or occupants of the vehicle were available.

The crash occurred around 5:45 a.m., near the BLM-Forest Service offices and Eastside Church, police and the Central Oregonian newspaper reported.

ODOT TripCheck said the crash and repair work was affecting the eastbound lane of Highway 26 near milepost 20. Traffic was being detoured down Barnes Butte Road, around the accident scene.

Pacific Power said 973 customers were affected and a repair crew was on scene, but the damage likely means it could take until 2 p.m. to fully restore power, though some residents said their power was restored around 10 a.m. You can track their outage page here.