Westar Energy is sorting through damage at its Hatcher Street substation from a wreck Sunday night.
Westar spokesperson Gina Penzig tells KVOE News the incident happened around 10 pm. Penzig says Westar is assessing damage and the scope of repairs. In the meantime, it’s re-routing power to other substations around town.
Police Sgt. Lisa Sage says officers continue their investigation as well. The vehicle in question clipped a pole, leaving a row of equipment hanging at an angle. West 15th has been closed for much of the day as Westar brought a substation crew and a line crew, including a crane, to begin repairs.
10:15 am Monday: Westar repairing crash damage at Emporia’s Hatcher Street substation
Westar Energy crews are among those on site at the Hatcher Street substation Monday repairing damage from an apparent car crash into the substation Sunday night.
The wreck happened around 10 pm, according to Westar officials on site, and caused substantial damage to at least one row of equipment. Power has since been restored, but there was an outage late Sunday night and early Monday morning. The extent of that outage is not immediately clear, but several nearby businesses including Hostess were knocked offline.
Crash details are pending. West 15th remains closed to all traffic between Hatcher and Graphic Arts.
It’s unclear how much time will be needed to make repairs at the substation, which underwent major equipment renovations and upgrades two years ago.
Photos by Chuck Samples/KVOE News
{gallery}Hatcher Street substation Sept 24 2018{/gallery}