High Winds Cause Major Jacksonville Street Shutdown on Wednesday

By Benjamin Cox on April 7, 2023 at 8:51am

Jacksonville Police and the Jacksonville Fire Department had to close down a major thoroughfare in Jacksonville due to a power pole malfunction on Wednesday morning.

Emergency dispatch received a call at approximately 10:30AM Wednesday reporting an electrical hazard, with the possibility of a utility pole on fire in the 800 block of South Main Street.

Ameren-Illinois spokesperson Brian Bretsch says the weather was the cause of the problem: “We had high winds that were blowing through the entire area, and we had some winds that damaged a cross arm on one of our poles. That cross arm actually malfunctioned and pulled down one of our power lines. The fire department arrived on scene around 10:30 and closed both directions of South Main Street so our crews could arrive on scene. They arrived on scene and assessed the damage and were immediately able to go up and re-strand the wire and our customers were all restored within an hour. The fire department did everything right by making the scene safe so we could get everybody restored within the hour.”

South Main Street was reopened to traffic just before Noon on Wednesday. No injuries or property damage was reported in the incident.