More than 3,300 Flathead Electric Cooperative members were without power this morning after two separate incidents in Evergreen and Creston. As of Thursday morning at 11 a.m., about 600 people were still in the dark in the Creston area.
The first power outage took place in Creston shortly after 3 a.m. when a car struck a transmission line pole, according to Flathead Electric spokesperson Wendy Ostrom Price. Power was temporarily restored in Creston Thursday, but was then shut off again while crews replaced the transmission pole. Ostrom Price said the outage would last about five hours.
The second outage took place in Evergreen at about 7 a.m., when a power pole caught fire. The incident impacted 2,800 members, but power was soon restored. Ostrom Price said a transmission pole could catch fire for a variety of reasons, including lightning and a scorched squirrel. The cause was under investigation.