An NV Energy employee surveys the damage done when a big rig's equipment snagged the power liens and brought them down to the ground on Friday at Sheckler Road and Sheckler Cut-off.
A power outage that affected most of western Churchill County began at about 2:45 p.m. Friday when a commercial truck struck two power poles near the intersection of Sheckler Road and Sheckler Cut-off.
According to NV Energy spokesman Karl Walquist, the accident knocked a 60,000 volt electric transmission line out of service. As a result, NV Energy lost service to three substations that serve the Fallon area, which affected about 7,500 customers. He said crews were able to restore service to nearly all the customers by about 4:45 p.m. by switching to alternate electrical circuits. Traffic lights, though, operated on generators.
About 200 customers in the Bottom Road and Meadow View Lane area experienced a separate outage from 5:22-8 p.m. because of an equipment failure.
Walquist said NV Energy replaced the damaged poles overnight and re-energized the transmission line by Saturday morning.