Power outages affect customers throughout Lake County

Mission Valley Power crews are working to restore power to multiple Lake County locations after trees fell into the electric lines around the county.

One of the first calls that came into Lake County Emergency Dispatch occurred at about 5 p.m. when a tree down caused a Polson area to lose electricity, Don Bell, Lake County Sheriff said.

That call was followed by other tree-down calls as well as a phone line disruption because of a falling tree over night, he said.

Though no known fatalities occurred because of the windstorm event that peaked in the Mission Valley at around 11 p.m. Tuesday, many homeowners became at risk of fire because trees and other vegetation was growing too close to electric lines.

Mission Valley Power crews began working to restore the scores of outages at 5:30 p.m. last night and continued throughout the night and into this morning, Jean Matt, Mission Valley Power General Manager said.

There is no immediate estimation of how many customers are out of power at this time because some folks who lost power during the night did not realize it until they woke this morning.

Matt said that at 9 a.m., power company phone lines continued to ring steadily with customers reporting outages.

Matt’s crew is now moving through “rest rotations,” which means that crews must take turns working on individual problems because their work is dangerous and demands laser sharp concentration.

No estimates are available about how much time it will take to restore power in Mission Valley.

Matt said that Mission Valley Power is keeping its customers updated on its work through its various social media outlets and through incoming phone calls.

Though fire is a real possibility when trees fall on power lines, no known fires are working in the Mission Valley at this time.

Matt said that its crews are preparing for additional weather-related problems later this week.

Trimming vegetation away from lines is imperative to homeowner’s safety as well as the safety of others.

Power lines that snap cause electrical sparks that can set nearby vegetation on fire, that in windstorms are fueled by high winds and spread far too fast for many to escape injury or death.

Vegetation near power lines in one neighborhood has the very real ability to produce fire sparks that can kill the children living in a home down the street, or even across town.

Matt urged customers to be patient with power crews who face dangerous, changing circumstances during these types of events.

“In a wind event like this safety is number one. We have to make sure we can do the job in a safe manner. When it is dark and windy at the same time, that makes things go a little slower,” Matt said.