CHP: Petaluma truck crash knocks power lines onto occupied vehicles

The CHP closed a stretch of a major east Petaluma road early Wednesday after a debris truck knocked down a power pole and pulled power lines across the roadway and other vehicles, briefly trapping drivers.

The 7:40 a.m. crash was at Corona Road near Adobe Road. A debris box truck was turning around and backed into the pole, said Rancho Adobe fire Battalion Chief Herb Wandel.

“It made quite a mess of the intersection. A couple of people were trapped in their vehicles for a short period of time,” Wandel said.

“A lot of people got lucky the circuit worked like it was supposed to,” Wandel said, meaning the break immediately cut power to the lines. “A lot of people drove into the power lines that were hanging and over lines on the ground.”

A woman who found a power line draped on her Toyota Camry got out of her car, possibly at the direction of a dispatcher or someone she was talking to, Wandel said. “We’re looking into that. If you’re in a vehicle, stay in the vehicle” as electrified power lines can be deadly.

The truck driver also got out and walked over the lines. Another person in a pickup was briefly stuck by the lines but drove out of the crash scene, while others who’d driven close, backed away.

The road closure was from Adobe to Ely roads and snarled morning commute traffic.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport.