Accident causes power outage

Debbie Blank

May 13, 2008 11:25 am

— A one-car accident caused Batesville electricity to go off for an hour Tuesday, May 13.
At 5:09 p.m., Jessica Comer drove a Chevrolet off of the road “for undetermined reasons and hit an (electrical) pole” at 13244 Coonhunters Road, reported Indiana State Police Lt. Marty McKinney.
At that time, 4,000 to 5,000 customers in this area lost power, said Duke Energy of Indiana spokesperson Angeline Protogere.
“The car did catch on fire. She sustained some injuries and was taken to Margaret Mary Community Hospital,” McKinney said.
Responding to the scene were ISP Trooper Kyle Black, assisted by Batesville police, firefighters and EMS 10 and Duke Energy.
“The vehicle hit a major transmission line. It literally brought down the transmission tower and affected three substations,” according to Protogere. Those power distribution points in the Batesville area are called Hillenbrand Industries, North and Laurel.
Electricity was rerouted and sprang to life again at 6:07 p.m., said Batesville dispatcher Rebekah Gunter.
“Everybody was back on except for a dozen customers,” who were expected to have power again Wednesday morning, the Duke Energy spokesperson noted. “In order to restore service to them, we had to actually repair the transmission line.”