Some Santa Cruz residents without power after pole catches fire
A screenshot from a video shared by the California Highway Patrol shows a firefighter dousing a power pole that caught fire on state Highway 9 near Fern Drive, in Santa Cruz County, on July 4, 2024. (CHP via Bay City News)
BOULDER CREEK, Calif. - A power pole caught fire on state Highway 9 in Santa Cruz County on Thursday afternoon, causing the highway to be shut down north of Boulder Creek.
Drivers were asked by the California Highway Patrol to avoid Highway 9 at Fern Drive in a message on the social media site X at about 12:45 p.m.
About 650 PG&E customers lost power in the area at about 12:30 p.m., but the cause was not yet confirmed, according to PG&E's live outage map.
As of 1:10 p.m., there was no estimate for when power would be restored.