CEDAR CITY — A series of weather-related events kept firefighters and other responders busy Tuesday night and early Wednesday.
Three of the incidents involved power poles arcing and/or catching fire in Cedar City. The first one was reported around 7 p.m. near 350 S. 100 West. Then, just over an hour later, right after the polls closed at 8 p.m. on Election Night, another power pole caught fire in a trailer park at 515 N. 400 West. Soon thereafter, a third power pole was seen arcing and sparking behind a parking lot at 360 N. Main, just north of the city library (see video clip).
The weather was windy and rainy at the time of the incidents.
Cedar City Fire Chief Mike Phillips said the moisture from the rain, along with dirt and minerals, caused the electricity to bypass the insulators on the power poles.
No injuries were reported, he said.
Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain Power crews worked to repair the damaged transformers and poles. Although the company’s website indicated that as many as 265 customers in the affected areas were temporarily without power on Tuesday night, all of them had their power back on as of Wednesday morning. One resident who lives near the scene of the second power pole fire told Cedar City News that his power was only off for a couple hours and was restored before midnight.
“We were busy all night,” Phillips noted, adding that firefighters also responded to a chimney fire at a home on 300 West at about midnight. That incident technically wasn’t weather-related. Damage was minor and nobody was hurt or displaced, the homeowner reported.
Additionally, Phillips noted that firefighters also responded to an alarm at Cedar Middle School during the night. “The rain leaked through the roof and got into the alarm system,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the mountain community of Cedar Highlands east of Cedar City, high winds reportedly blew the roof off of the office area of a home on Cedar View Drive.
“No injuries occurred,” Iron County Sheriff’s Lt. David Mitchell said in a text message, adding, “The homeowner chose to stay in the basement for the night.”
Photo Gallery
A newly repaired power pole that had caught fire the night before (Nov. 8) in Cedar City, Utah, Nov. 9, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News A Cedar City Police vehicle blocks the street near 400 West and 400 North, while firefighters respond to a power pole fire, Cedar City, Utah, Nov. 8, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Firefighters respond to a power pole fire on 400 West, Cedar City, Utah, Nov. 8, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Firefighters respond to an arcing power pole near 360 North Main, Cedar City, Utah, Nov. 8, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News
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