Truck takes down 7 utility poles and wires on Montvale Avenue in Stoneham
STONEHAM – A tractor-trailer snagged a low-hanging wire and brought down seven utility poles in Stoneham Wednesday morning.
It happened around 9:30 a.m. on Montvale Avenue. Police said more than two dozen people called 911 after the incident. No one was hurt.
Though the truck was not hit by the pole, the driver was trapped by the downed wires and couldn't be freed until the power was shut off.
"You live in New England your whole life, you know, you see power lines down from ice storms and that sort of thing," said Stoneham resident James Baker. "But I've never seen seven poles down straight in a row. It looked like a comet hit it or something."
Eversource said about 400 customers lost electricity. Montvale Avenue, just east of Route 93, was quickly shut down as a massive synchronized repair job took shape, headed by Eversource and involving all the phone, cable and Internet companies with wires on the poles. Crews expected to work through the night to restore electricity. Authorities are not making an estimate as to when repairs will be complete or when Montvale Avenue will reopen.
"We are still investigating exactly what caused all seven utility poles to come down at the same time, but we are sure that Montvale Avenue will be closed in this area for an extended period of time," Police Chief James McIntyre said in a statement. "We're asking the public to avoid the area to ease traffic congestion as we respond to this incident."
An Eversource spokesperson said the company has brought in seven generators to provide power to the neighborhood.
The accident draped live wires across many cars. Most drivers were able to get out of the car on their own. Elizabeth Garcia's car was trapped under power lines.
"I just driving I saw the poles going down and I tried to escape," said Garcia, who was on her way home to Lynn when she saw the power lines start to fall. "The cables went down. I saw the poles exploding I just thinking get out of my car,"
UPS driver Jack Finley saw the tractor-trailer pull down the wires.
"He got hung up on the wires and pulled down one pole and they all came falling right afterwards," Finley said.
It is not clear how long cleanup will take or when power will be fully restored in the area.
