Thanksgiving Power Outage Caused by Crash

Over the holiday weekend, Alaska State Troopers responded to multiple crashes, one of which caused a Thanksgiving power outage in Downtown Talkeetna.

On Thursday,Troopers responded just before 4:00 am to a report of a vehicle that had struck a power pole.  The accident was near the crossing of the railroad tracks and the Talkeetna Spur Road.  Troopers say that 20 year old Jacob Nordman collided with the pole, and was driving while impaired.  Troopers also say that Nordman has an active warrant in Wisconsin for violating probation on charges of burglary, damage to property, and theft.  Nordman was arrested and held without bail.

Later that morning, the Matanuska Electric Association reported on its Facebook page that a line crew was en route.  Power was restored by late morning, but had to be taken down again in the early afternoon in order to replace the damaged power pole.  For most people Downtown, the lights were back on in plenty of time for Thanksgiving dinner.

Troopers also reported two accidents near Cantwell last week, including one fatality on Wednesday.  Early Sunday morning, a Willow woman lost control of her vehicle near mile 83.5 of the Parks Highway and was injured.  Icy conditions were cited in all of the accidents.