Some Otter Tail Power Company service customers in the Sisseton area were without electricity for a time on Thursday after a local electrician accidentally struck a primary transmission line with his bucket truck while performing electrical maintenance work.
Company Public Relations Manager Stepanie Hoff says the outage occurred shortly before 5 p.m. when a local electrician accidentally left the boom on his bucket truck in a raised position, which in turn caused one of the primary feeder lines coming out of the main downtown substation to be torn down. A transformer pole was also broken off in the process with several strands of wire being taken down as a result. Several related electrical type services were also torn off nearby businesses and houses during the incident. Our Big Stone Radio company sister stations, KJKQ and KBWS FM in Sisseton were also knocked off the air for a time, as well, due to the accident.
Otter Tail Power Company service crews worked diligently into the late evening with full power being restored to the affected area at around 11 p.m.
