Power has been restored to more than 2,200 customers on Florida Mesa, east of Durango, after a front-end loader hit a utility pole Tuesday morning, according to the La Plata Electric Association.
Around 9 a.m., a front-end loader, working for a private contractor, hit a “guy-wire,” a tensioned cable that adds stability to a utility pole, near County Road 302/304, LPEA said in a statement.
The front-end loader hit the cable with enough force that it caused a cascading effect on the wires down the line. LPEA’s system, which is designed to automatically lock when it senses a disturbance, then cut power.
A total of 2,230 customers who rely on the Falfa Substation lost power. The station is near U.S. Highway 160 at Elmore’s Corner, where County Road 234 and Colorado Highway 172 meet.
By about 10:30 a.m., all power had been restored, LPEA said. Upon inspection, crews found no significant damage to equipment, but the guy-wire had to be replaced and equipment needed to be tested before lines were re-energized.
“The incident today is a reminder that we all must be aware of utility poles and lines when driving or working with equipment in the field,” LPEA spokeswoman Indiana Reed said in an email.
As a result of the outage, Florida Mesa Elementary School, located at 216 Highway 172, was without power Tuesday morning.
Durango School District 9-R spokeswoman Julie Popp said parents were sent a notification about the outage, as well as instructions about how to contact the school while the phone system is down.
Parents were instructed to call the school district’s main office at 247-5411 if they needed to contact Florida Mesa Elementary, Popp said.
The school had planned to operate without power, switching up lunch options and bringing meals from other schools, she said. Water and the gas stove were still working, she said.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
