A one-vehicle car crash over the July Fourth weekend took out a utility pole near the 17 mile-marker near Moloaa dairy, cutting off power to area residents for about three hours. Colan Fernandez, 25, of Kapaa, was the only passenger
A one-vehicle car crash over the July Fourth weekend took out a utility pole near the 17 mile-marker near Moloaa dairy, cutting off power to area residents for about three hours.
Colan Fernandez, 25, of Kapaa, was the only passenger in a red pickup truck at the time of the incident. After the truck crashed into the pole, sparks from utility lines that fell started a fire. Personnel from the Kauai Fire Department responded to extinguish it, which burned the roadside grass in two separate areas and was too large to be put out by the fire extinguishers police carry in their patrol vehicles.
Fernandez was detained and investigated for operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant and was held overnight for observation at Wilcox Memorial Hospital in Lihue. Police said that the Kapaa man was not arrested.
The highway was closed for about 45 minutes to an hour though some motorists took Koolau Road as a detour, police said.
Kauai Island Utility Cooperative linemen will have to replace the entire pole. According to KIUC, the pole was the only feeder to the area and residents lost power from about 3:23 to 6:45 p.m. Additionally, the KIUC listed their Trouble Call 7 as occurring on July 5 while the KPD said it happened on July Fourth.
Fernandez will be billed by KIUC for damaging the utility pole, but the exact amount was not yet known. The cooperative would have to factor the extent of the damage, work completed and the condition of the original pole.
Another Fourth of July fire reported was near the motocross track in Marine Camp. No injuries were reported in the fire. Kauai police made one other July Fourth DUI arrest: At the stroke of midnight, a Puhi man was picked up at the junction of Kaumualii Highway and Puhi Road.
