Chase County deputies continue investigating a traffic incident that led to a downed power line across a state highway Monday.
The Chase County Sheriff’s Office says Kansas Highway 177 had to be closed between around 3:30 and 5:50 pm after a semi carrying a large excavator downed a line. Initially, the report was for an electric line, but Sheriff Jacob Welsh says the incident involved a downed fiber optic line instead.
The semi went north after the incident. Welsh says the driver was contacted and said he was unaware of the incident.
No injuries were reported.
7 am Tuesday: Investigation continues after semi load downs power line along K-177 in Chase County
It took over two hours for traffic to return to normal between Cottonwood Falls and Strong City after an equipment incident involving a power line Monday.
The Chase County Sheriff’s Office says Kansas Highway 177 had to be closed between around 3:30 and 5:50 pm after a semi carrying a large excavator downed a power line. The vehicle continued north on the highway after the incident. The Sheriff’s Office also says the drive and vehicle were identified before 8 pm but hasn’t said whether deputies had contacted the driver.
During the closure, other semi drivers had to take Lake Road west to Elmdale and connect to US Highway 50 outside that community to detour around the blockage.
No injuries were reported. Evergy spokesperson Courtney Lewis says almost 1,300 customers may have noticed a “blink” in their service but there was no actual outage. Lewis also says Evergy equipment was not damaged in this incident.
5:15 pm Monday: K-177 closed between Cottonwood Falls, Strong City after semi load pulls down power pole
Traffic on a state highway in Chase County is currently blocked until further notice after a crash Monday afternoon.
Sheriff Jacob Welsh says a northbound semi carrying an excavator brought down a power pole along Kansas Highway 177 between Cottonwood Falls and Strong City around 3:30 pm. The semi kept going after contact and has not been reported since.
Nobody was hurt, but Welsh says there were an unspecified number of outages for Evergy customers near the wreck site.
There is currently no word on when K-177 will reopen to traffic. Residents with information about the incident are asked to call 620-273-6313.
KVOE and KVOE.com will have updates.
