Lang
11/8/24
A utility pole fire cut power to thousands of electrical customers in southeast Iowa City Friday afternoon.
The fire began about midway up a newly installed utility pole on Kountry Lane just before 2:45 p.m. Crews from Mid-American Energy and the Iowa City Fire Department blocked the street for over an hour as they used handheld fire extinguishers to put out the blaze. Residents of the adjacent Sycamore Apartments were unable to leave for about an hour.
Power returned to the affected residents at about 5:45 p.m, and crews worked on the damaged pole well past 9:00.
Mid-American Energy estimates over 2,600 customers were impacted.