Power restored to thousands following car crash in Mesa

MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - A car crash late Wednesday morning is to blame for a power outage that had some SRP customers without power on a record-setting 118-degree day for more than seven hours. Around 11:30 a.m., Rural Metro firefighters responded to reports of a crash involving downed powerlines on Quarterline Road, near University Drive and Crismon Road. It’s unclear if anyone was injured. A few brush fires were also sparked by the downed lines, which were quickly extinguished.

SRP said the crash knocked out power to around 4,000 customers between Ellsworth to Meridian Roads and Broadway to Brown Roads. Crews worked during the scorching afternoon, and power was restored to everyone just before 7 p.m. People impacted by the outage tell Arizona’s Family they were using the air conditioning in their car to stay cool. Others chose to run errands so they can be inside buildings with cool air while they waited for power to return to their homes.

Some of the homes have generators. One man said besides trying to stay cool, he worried about saving all his cold food. “Without power, took all the stuff out of the freezer and put it in coolers and you don’t realize how nice electricity is until you don’t have it,” said a man who only wanted to be known as “Chuck.”

Rural Metro set up a temporary cooling station for people impacted in the area. SRP is also reimbursing people up to $10 so they can buy ice to try and stay cool. You can check power outages at SRP’s outage map link by clicking/taping here.

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