Utility crews were scrambling Wednesday afternoon after a bucket truck snagged utility lines causing outages to hundreds of customers.
At approximately 1:30 p.m., a City of Brownwood brush removal truck had its boom raised as it drove south on 2nd Street which caught on several utility lines at the intersection at Poindexter Street, breaking two utility poles.
According to Oncor officials on scene, approximately 14 customers were affected due to the damaged electrical lines.
The story was not as good for the lower hanging Verizon lines that were damaged, as the split main feeder line which services approximately 150-200 Verizon customers was severed completely from the service box at the alley between 1st and 2nd Streets on Poindexter. The damage was estimated to be several thousands of dollars to restore internet and phone service to the Verizon customers served by this 350 feet of the main feeder line.
“It’s fairly extensive damage and will take thousands of dollars just in labor to restore service,” said Verizon officials on scene. “Crews will work into the night and maybe by morning we’ll have service back to most customers.”
The engineer on scene explained that some customers may have service restored sooner as each line is reconnected.
Harris Broadband customers were not interrupted in service as those lines were higher on the pole and appeared to be undamaged according to Harris Broadband representatives on scene.
Brownwood Police Department, Brownwood Fire Department, Oncor, Verizon and Harris Broadband responded to the scene of the accident.
Pictured at top is the damaged utility pole, downed wires and the city truck involved in the accident.
Pictured above is the accident scene.
Damage to the Verizon main feeder line.
Oncor repairs the damaged electric line.
Pictured above is the snapped utility pole and street light damaged in the accident.
The line was damaged all the way to Austin Avenue at Poindexter. Pictured above are electric and broadband lines which had fallen at Austin Avenue and adjacent business properties.
