Power pole fire closes Hwy 9 north of Boulder Creek, causing outage in area
A collision set a power pole on fire on state Highway 9 in Santa Cruz County Thursday afternoon, causing the highway to be shut down north of Boulder Creek.
Drivers were asked by the California Highway Patrol to avoid Highway 9 at Fern Drive in a message on the social media site X at about 12:45 p.m.
🚨 Traffic Alert 🚨 HWY 9 at Fern Dr. is currently shut down due to a power pole on fire. Please avoid the area and stay tuned for updates on when the road will reopen. #TrafficAlert #RoadClosure #CHP 🚧 pic.twitter.com/pyqOhSohxh
— CHP Santa Cruz (@CHPscrz) July 4, 2024
Authorities later confirmed that the fire was caused by a solo vehicle collision into the pole that caused minor injuries. As of around 2:30 p.m., one-way traffic controls were in place.
About 650 PG&E customers lost power in the area at about 12:30 p.m., but the cause was not yet confirmed, according to PG&E's live outage map.
As of 1:10 p.m., there was no estimate for when power would be restored.