Boom truck tears out lines, poles in downtown Sisters
A roof truss delivery truck driver failed to lower the boom as it drove through Sisters Friday evening and it caught several power and other utility lines, also shearing off two poles, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.
A 29-year-old Redmond man was at the wheel of the truck, owned by a Dayton truss company, that had just completed a delivery on North Pine Street near Barclay Drive when the incident occurred around 5:30 p.m., Sgt. Kevin Dizney said in a news release Saturday.
The driver failed to lower the boom crane onto the carrying cradle before leaving the job site, Dizney said.
The boom first caught a small wire near the intersection of Main Avenue and Pine Street, ripping it in half and flinging it to the edges of the road, Dizney said. No wires were found arcing on the road.
The truck continued south on Pine Street and crossed the intersection of Highway 20 and Cascade Avenue, where it caught a full set of electrical wires and communication cables that ran across Pine Street mid-block at the alley, the sergeant said.
The impact sheared off a power pole on each side of Pine Street and pulled the wires to the ground across the street.
Dizney said the boom truck stopped in the southbound travel lane on Pine Street, with wires laying across the boom, and the driver was able to get out without injury.
A silver Mini Cooper parked along Pine Street also was damaged when the power pole on the west side of the street was broken and pulled down.
No one was injured in the incident, Dizney said. Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire District crews responded and helped with the road closure and scene control until Sisters Public Works brought out barricades and cones.
The damage affected Central Electric Cooperative, BendBroadband and Century Link, Dizney said. South Pine Street between Highway 20 and West Hood Street was closed for an extended period while the poles and wires were replaced and repaired.
Three businesses lost power when the service lines from transformers to the businesses were torn from one end or the other.
Dizney said no citations were issued and added that alcohol and drugs did not play any part in the incident.
