San Diego

Fiery Semi-Truck Crash Downs Power Lines, Shears Hydrants in Barrio Logan

Thousands were without power in Barrio Logan Friday morning after a semi-truck lost control and left a trail of destruction through the neighborhood. Hours later, hundreds were still without electricity. 

The semi-truck crashed into two fire hydrants and a power pole before slamming into a building and bursting into flames at 30th and Main streets at about 2 a.m. Friday. 

When San Diego Fire-Rescue crews arrived to the scene, they immediately doused the semi-truck to put out flames. The driver was uninjured but was taken to the hospital as a precaution. 

The sheared hydrants gushed water for hours before crews could cap the leak. Downed power lines sitting in pools of water made access to the area difficult for firefighters. 

"We had major access issues because of the fact that we had power lines across the street and the pooling water," SDFD Battalion Chief Dan Eddy said.

The crash knocked out power to at least 4,700 San Diego Gas and Electric customers. By about 6 a.m., 1,500 customers were still without power. Several hours later, all but about 475 customers had power restored. The rest should have power by 10 a.m., according to SDG&E. 

A spokesperson for the utility said clean-up for the mess left behind could take until 6 p.m. The power pole was split in half and the upper portion was left danging from power lines. Crews would need to completely replace it. 

The outage left several businesses struggling to stay open Friday morning. Mi Rancho Taco Shop on Main Street was left in the dark but chef Gabriel Ruiz said he wouldn’t let it affect his customers. He was cooking food in the dark so they could open at 10 a.m., hours after their scheduled open time.

A SigAlert was issued for the area surrounding the crash site; Main Street from 29th to 31st streets and 30th Street from Boston and Main streets were blocked off. The closure was expected to last through the early afternoon. 

It is unclear what caused the driver to lose control. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. 

No other information was available.

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