Crash Utilities Vehicle

Shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday, February 13, a green sedan traveling on South Second Street veered off the asphalt, hopped the curb, and crashed into a number of utilities’ service facilities. A witness reported that the car had been traveling “at high speed” between Main and Washington streets before plowing through two bollards that protected a gas main, destroying a block electrical panel, damaging a telephone circuit box, and splintering the base of a wooden utilities pole.

El Cajon police, fire personnel, and paramedics attended the scene. The street was immediately closed and county officials notified. No injuries were reported by either of the vehicle’s two occupants.

San Diego Gas and Electric completed repairs to the gas main shortly after 1 p.m. The electrical outage affected only nearby residences. Cox Cable performed repairs on a ground level electrical box, and erected a new utilities pole. Electrical power was intermittently disrupted throughout the day. The road was reopened at around 4 p.m. All services had been restored 5 p.m.

The area of El Cajon where the accident occurred was originally an isolated parcel of land developed in 1946. At that time, county utilities were nonexistent, and services were brought onto South Second Street and grouped together on a straight section of road away from intersections.