Dump truck knocks out power in SW Cedar Rapids

Construction workers on the southwestern edge of the city say they heard a boom and smoke rising from a truck after it errantly severed a power line early Thursday night that knocked out power for parts of the city and sent one man to the hospital.

The driver of the truck was not injured in the incident, but another contractor told emergency responders that he had been indirectly electrocuted by the downed power line. Cedar Rapids Fire Department Capt. Mike Fredericks said he did not know the extent of the man's injuries, but that the man had been taken by ambulance for treatment at a local hospital.

Fredericks said that a dump truck working on the new overpass at Edgewood Road just south of the General Mills plant was raising its back load when it clipped the line at around 6:30 p.m.

When police and firefighters arrived they found the driver still inside the truck was uninjured, and told him to wait there until crews from Alliant Energy could confirm that the area was safe. The other man who had been taken to the hospital did not come into direct contact with the line, but that the wet clay he was standing on conducted the shock.

“A strong current of electricity can do some serious damage,” Fredericks said.

Officials said that the power outage, which affected 898 people, knocking out traffic lights all the way to 29th St. SW.

As of 8:30 p.m., crews had rerouted power to all but 20 customers, and say that it will be midnight before crews can restore power to those last 20.