Downed pole causes power outage

A downed power pole, located across Highway 200 from Hi Country Snack Foods, knocked out electricity to about 700 Lincoln-area residents.

According to Butch Larcombe with Northwestern Energy, the company's town manager Shea Forkan rerouted power and restored service to 580 customers within about 20 minutes but the remaining customers had to wait until a new power pole was in place. By 8:30 p.m., all the affected customers had their power restored.

"We appreciate their patience," Larcombe told the BVD. "Replacing a pole can be a time-consuming process."

Although the pole that went down appeared to be quite old, Larcombe said they believe the power pole was simply broken by the high wind in the Lincoln area Friday. He said the pole was inspected about two years ago and deemed to be OK.

According to Larcombe, the other poles along Highway 200 were inspected in 2014 and will be inspected again as part of their regular, cyclical program but didn't have a date for that inspection on hand.

(Roger Dey Photo)