An apparent lightning strike during Monday evening’s thunderstorms blew a transformer and set an Otter Tail power pole on fire at 717 Memorial Drive.
Crookston firefighters responded to the call around 9 p.m. and extinguished the fire. But concern about the stability of the pole led Otter Tail Power Company to take the precaution of contacting the Crookston MnDOT office to have a portion of University Avenue blocked off overnight and into today, said Leon Kremeier, Otter Tail’s area manager.
“We didn’t want anything to happen or anyone to get hurt,” he said.
An Otter Tail crew was expected on the scene by late morning to begin the process of replacing the damaged pole, he said, adding that the barricades blocking University Avenue and detouring traffic would be removed as soon as possible.
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An apparent lightning strike during Monday evening’s thunderstorms blew a transformer and set an Otter Tail power pole on fire at 717 Memorial Drive.
Crookston firefighters responded to the call around 9 p.m. and extinguished the fire. But concern about the stability of the pole led Otter Tail Power Company to take the precaution of contacting the Crookston MnDOT office to have a portion of University Avenue blocked off overnight and into today, said Leon Kremeier, Otter Tail’s area manager.
“We didn’t want anything to happen or anyone to get hurt,” he said.
An Otter Tail crew was expected on the scene by late morning to begin the process of replacing the damaged pole, he said, adding that the barricades blocking University Avenue and detouring traffic would be removed as soon as possible.
