Update: Road reopens after car hits pole, knocks out power to hundreds in central Fresno
A car crash into a utility pole Sunday morning knocked out electricity to a significant chunk of central Fresno in neighborhoods near Palm and Dakota avenues.
The hit-and-run incident happened before 7:30 a.m. in front of an apartment complex on the east side of Palm Avenue south of Dakota Avenue. Fresno police blocked Palm Avenue to traffic, while Pacific Gas & Electric Co. crews assessed the demolished pole and worked to restore power.
At one point, the PG&E website indicated that as many as 50 blocks in the Palm Avenue corridor down to Fresno High School were affected by the outage.
By 9:30 a.m., that figure had been reduced to all or parts of about 15 blocks, including about 256 customers.
A gray sedan with damage to the passenger side and rear was observed loaded onto a flatbed tow truck and hauled from the scene. Fresno police reported that the driver of the vehicle ran from the scene after the crash and so far has not been located.
A police spokesperson said that based on information from PG&E, Palm between Dakota and Garland avenues was likely to be closed until Sunday evening, but traffic was allowed back on the major north-south route by the afternoon.
This story was originally published March 12, 2023 at 10:34 AM.
