Driver crashes into power pole, creates power surge throughout neighborhood

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating a single-vehicle crash after they say a driver ran into a power pole along University Boulevard North in the Arlington area Monday morning.

Neighbors who live near the power pole told Action News Jax the crash caused a transformer to catch on fire, which created a power surge in the area. Some of their household appliances are now fried.

“I have to asses how many appliances are still working, what was fried because it was a triple surge,” Neighbor Danny Muller said.

The JEA power outage map showed more than 1,300 customers were without power from 1:30 a.m. until about 9 a.m. Police closed all lanes along University Boulevard between Merrill Road and Lake Lucina.

Muller said his four children woke him up after hearing the crash outside of their windows.

“I see the pole out here, snapped into about three different pieces.” Muller said. “Then I see the police come. Then the fire happens again, it wasn’t one time, it happened like three times.”

JEA crews worked to replace the damaged power pole and nearby outages. Neighbors said they were left with damaged appliances and debris in their yards.

“That wire right there came down on top of the speed sign,” Muller said. “That wire over there was about to catch the tree on fire. All the stuff in my house of course went dead.”

Action News Jax requested the crash report from JSO to learn what caused the crash and if any injured were reported.

Cox Media Group