A downed pole and power line on Heath Street caused a power outage at about 2:50 p.m. today, June 21. Bruce Shelley, director of member relations, said the outage caused about 430 members to lose power. Homer Police and HEA crews blocked off Heath Street from Pioneer Avenue to Bonanza Avenue. The outage affected homes and businesses in downtown Homer and parts of Old Town. Power was restored at about 3:50 p.m.

Shelley said the outage happened when an HEA flatbed truck with an all-terrain boom-crane vehicle on top turned out of the HEA yard on Heath Street and somehow snagged a low hanging telephone line. That caused one pole to snap and another pole to lean down. A power line then fell across Heath Street near the Kachemak Bay Campus. No one was injured in the incident, Shelley said.

“It was a loud boom,” said KBC director Carol Swartz. “… I thought the building had been hit.”

As of 4 p.m., HEA crews were still making repairs and Heath Street remained closed.

“It’s good power is back up and nobody got hurt,” Shelley said.

This is a developing story.

Reach Michael Armstrong at marmstrong@homernews.com.

A power line hangs down on Heath Street at the Kachemak Bay Campus. A Homer Electric Association truck on Heath Street at about 3:15 p.m. Thursday, June 21, snagged a low-hanging telephone line, breaking a pole and bringing down a power line. The outage affected about 430 customers in downtown Homer. No one was injured in the incident. (Photo by Michael Armstrong / Homer News)

Homer Electric Association crews assess a downed line and pole on Heath Street about 3:15 p.m. Thursday, June 21. The truck in the foreground snagged a low-hanging telephone line, breaking a pole and bringing down a power line. The outage affected about 430 customers in downtown Homer. No one was injured in the incident. (Photo by Michael Armstrong / Homer News)