A farm implement caught a guy wire on farm east of Irrigon Tuesday afternoon causing a power outage affecting thousands of homes and businesses.
The accident occurred around 4:30 p.m. and caused power outages in Hermiston and Irrigon and surrounding areas. The outage caused traffic signals to stop working which led to at least one accident in Hermiston. No injuries were reported.
According to Umatilla Electric Cooperative, power was restored to some areas as early as 4:45 p.m., but other areas such as Irrigon and the Buttercreek and Westland areas were out for several hours. Some businesses in Hermiston, including Wal-Mart, had to close during the outage.
All power was restored by 8:40 p.m.
UEC customers can call 888-465-5701 at any time to report an outage.
