Accident Blacks Out Part Of North Side

Cold temperatures and icy rain caused dozens of accidents Sunday in Eastern Washington and North Idaho, including wrecks that stuck a truck in a tree and knocked out power to 1,000 people.

No fatalities were reported in either state.

The Washington State Patrol responded to 37 accidents in and around Spokane by early afternoon.

The most spectacular was at Francis and Ash, where a car skidded into a Washington Water Power transformer pole at 6:48 p.m., knocking it and another pole to the ground.

No one was injured in the accident, but it caused a bright blast that could be seen for miles.

About 1,000 people were out of power, said a WWP spokesman.

By 8 p.m., power was restored to everyone except a nearby shopping center and apartment complex, which were expected to be without power all night.

In Idaho, freezing rain caused a slew of minor traffic accidents in the late afternoon and early evening.

On U.S. Highway 95, just south of Sandpoint, a 1995 Chevrolet S-10 pickup skidded off the road, over a guard rail and into a tree.

The rear end of the truck was hung on a branch about six feet off the ground, said Idaho State Police Cpl. Eric Mesher.

The tree had to be cut to get the truck down, Mesher said. The truck appeared totaled.

“I had to tell the tow truck driver to make sure he brought a chain saw,” said Bonner County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher Terrie Wise.

“I did ask them to take a picture of it.”