Car Crashes Into Building, Causes Massive Power Outage in Missoula

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Missoula traffic snarled late Friday afternoon and a vehicle crashed into a building taking out both power and phone service for several hours.

I spoke to Missoula Police Department Public Information Officer Whitney Bennett on Monday about the incident.

A Vehicle Versus Building Accident Occurred at the Fairgrounds

“How we received the call is that there were power lines down in that intersection, the old ‘malfunction junction’,” began Bennett. “So just after three o'clock, we had received a few calls regarding that, so we had officers come out. First off, we had to secure the area due to the dangers of the power lines being down and we had traffic diverted around that area.”

Bennett said the accident was unusual in that it actually occurred at the Missoula County Fairgrounds.

The Accident Caused Downed Power and Phone Lines

“We came to find out that an accident did occur, but not on the roadway,” she said. “It happened within the fairgrounds, and what kind of report we initiated ended up being a ‘vehicle versus property’ accident. So not necessarily the most normal thing you're going to find, but that's what happened.”

With both power and phone service disrupted, traffic and communications were affected throughout the city.

“Initially, Northwestern Energy said it was going to be about 24 to 48 hours before being able to get everything figured out and back up and running," Bennett said. "Thankfully, it took a lot less time than that. Just before midnight that night, we were able to open traffic back up and everything was able to flow for the weekend.”

Bennett said even though the accident caused snarled rush hour traffic on Friday, there was only one slight injury reported.

Luckily There Was Only One Injury Reported

“There were multiple businesses in that area that were affected, unfortunately, so thankfully, it didn't take as long as the estimated time from Northwestern Energy,” she said. “They definitely stepped up and got it taken care of. Nobody was transported. However, Missoula Emergency Services did show up for one driver that was in the area who wanted medical services to evaluate them after having some of the power lines on their vehicle.”

Power and phone services were fully restored by early Sunday morning.