Car crash causes power outage in Dannevirke

Scanpower staff yesterday removed a transformer damaged when a car crashed in to it on Tuesday evening.

A car crash on the corner of Gordon St and Trafalgar St on Tuesday evening cut power to around 40 households, including Eileen Mary Residential Care Centre, and injured one person.

The crash between two vehicles occurred at 6.10pm with one of the vehicles ploughing into a ground-mounted transformer, damaging a high voltage cable and cutting power to 38 homes on Trafalgar St from Allardice St to Barraud St and the bottom of Gordon St.

Police said one person was taken to hospital with moderate injuries.

No charges were being laid at this stage.

Scanpower Limited network manager Peter Rue said a Scanpower staff member who was at the Barraud St medical centre heard the crash and was at the scene within minutes.

He contacted Scanpower management and a team of four were working on the site within 10 minutes.

While the power outage would have meant a cold dinner for many residents most were understanding of the situation and were very amenable, Rue said.

One of two temporary generators placed in Allardice St. Photos / Sue Emeny

Scanpower staff installed a temporary generator and by 9.30pm power had been restored to all houses in the area.

Rue said a small temporary generator was sufficient to restore power to all homes but it was not able to cope during peak power usage periods so a second generator was brought to Dannevirke from Napier today. "This second generator was placed on Trafalgar St outside the Eileen Mary rest home so that it would have its own power supply," Rue said.

Neighbour Ian Cushing described hearing the crash which was followed by a loud blast which was the transformer and fuses blowing after the impact.

He said police, fire and ambulance attended the scene.

"Our dinner was cooking when the power went off so we used a camp cooker to finish it off, but it took a while."

Eileen Mary facility manager Darlene Amboy said residents had finished dinner by the time the power was cut.

"Our emergency lighting came on and Scanpower have done their best to keep us going at full capacity to ensure the safety of all our residents."

She said there was a temporary shut down for an hour this morning but power was restored as quickly as possible.

The temporary generator would mean the rest home could operate independently at full capacity.

The power outage had affected the care facility's phone system but most staff were using cellphones, Amboy said.

Scanpower staff removed the damaged transformer this morning but now need to wait for the weather to clear before they can carry out trench work to replace the high voltage cable.

Rue said work will continue Thursday and Friday when it was hoped the new transformer would be commissioned.

There will be a small power outage when the new transformer is installed but residents will be notified as to when this will take place.