A pair of crashes in two days knocked out power and tore down two utility poles a few hundred feet apart on Airport Boulevard.
The first crash occurred at 7:55am Sunday when a woman lost control of her SUV and smashed into a utility pole on the 100 block of Airport Boulevard.
She was traveling eastbound on Airport Boulevard approaching Freedom Boulevard when, for unknown reasons, she veered across both westbound lanes, over a curb and struck the power pole. The impact toppled the pole and shattered two transformer containers, emptying a large amount of mineral oil across the pavement. Power lines also fell across her SUV and across the roadway.
Watsonville Fire and police arrived and shut down Airport Boulevard between Freedom Boulevard and Roache Road. The driver remained trapped in her vehicle until PG&E officials arrived and de-energized the 21,000 volt lines. The impact caused power outages in the area of Freedom Boulevard, Airport Boulevard and Green Valley Road.
The driver was not injured and the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Officials said that section of Airport Boulevard was closed to traffic for around eight hours for repairs.
Then, on Monday, a garbage truck got caught in one of the downed lines from Sunday’s incident, and yanked another utility pole over on the corner of Freedom and Airport boulevards. Emergency crews closed the heavily traveled intersection to allow PG&E crews to replace the pole. That closure took until about 6pm.
PG&E reported that 935 customers lost power in the area during the second incident.
