It was a bad morning for utility poles on eastbound Algonquin Blvd. Two of them were hit by vehicles.
First, shortly after 6:30am, a wide load snapped a pole just west of Thériault Boulevard. Then at about nine o’clock, a mini-van collided with one just a couple blocks east, near Wilcox Street.
In the first one, it appears the driver didn’t know he had hit the pole.
“He was made aware of the fact that he was involved in a collision” says Timmins Police communications coordinator Marc Depatie, “and then was contacted so that we were able to determine who in fact was operating the vehicle at the time and the other particulars required for the investigation.”
Hydro One workers on the scene say it could take all day to replace the pole.
Then a couple hours later, a minivan taxi hit head-on with a pole just a bit further east, near Wilcox Street. The driver was treated on the scene by paramedics for minor injuries.
Depatie says it was a challenge finding detours, with so many already in place due to flood concerns and that broken water man on Airport Road.
“It’s an odd set of circumstances that we should get two collisions back to back of the same nature,” he remarks. “Nonetheless, we were able to respond in a timely fashion and the investigations into how these events occurred is still underway by the Timmins Police traffic section.”