Pole fire causes power outage affecting thousands in Salt Lake City
Dec 27, 2022, 4:18 PM | Updated: Mar 28, 2023, 5:47 pm
Could Utah survive an emergency of the same caliber as the wildfire in Maui? How would the state respond? Rocky Mountain Power has a plan. (Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A pole fire knocked out the power to thousands of Rocky Mountain Power customers on Tuesday afternoon. The company reported the outage to be in the Salt Lake City and Millcreek areas.
A spokesman for RMP told KSL that the outage originally impacted 3,000 customers. However, the number of customers currently impacted is down to 1,100. It is expected that power will be restored to those customers by 10:30 p.m.
We are aware of power outages impacting many customers in Millcreek, Layton, Salt Lake City & Syracuse, UT. The cause is due to a pole fire. The estimated time of restoration is 8:00 p.m. For Millcreek & Salt Lake City it is 10:30 p.m. To report your outage text “OUT” to 759677. pic.twitter.com/4RF2JkPi4d
— Rocky Mountain Power UT (@RMP_Utah) December 28, 2022
Additionally, RMP also says there is an outage in the Syracuse/Layton area in Davis County. The estimated time of restoration is 8 p.m.
What causes a pole fire?
Early Tuesday evening, a spokesman with RMP told KSL that recent weather is making for “prime” conditions for power pole fires.
The spokesman says dirty snow has fallen in the region and that dirt has accumulated. Add that with the frosty nights and the gentle rain, the spokesman says it has made things wet without washing off the dirt, thus igniting the power poles.
Pole fires in Bountiful
In Bountiful, there were three pole fires reported on Tuesday.
One occurred in the area of Davis Boulevard and Center Street. A second occurred in the area of 900 South and 350 West.
On a social media post, city officials say the poles in the first two fires had to be replaced. As a result, the power was out well into Tuesday evening.
The power in the 350 West area has been restored said Bountiful City on Twitter.
UPDATE: The power in the 350 West area has been restored. If your power is still out, please call the Power Department at 801.298.6072.
— Bountiful City (@BountifulCityUT) December 28, 2022
A third pole fire occurred in the area of 3100 South and 200 West. Officials say power was expected to be restored to the third area by 10 p.m.
We have a third pole fire affecting homes in the area of 3100 South and 200 West. Crews are aware and will be on site as soon as they finish replacing the first two poles. pic.twitter.com/s2B7qETbaV
— Bountiful City (@BountifulCityUT) December 27, 2022
Mark Jones contributed to this article.
