Dry-Rotten Electric Pole Falls on Imperial Beach Apartment Building

A utility pole fell against an Imperial Beach apartment building on the morning of December 7, cutting off power to approximately two city blocks.

At around 6:30 a.m., the wooden pole fell against the two-story apartment building at 1472 Iris Avenue. Imperial Beach firefighters and SDG&E emergency crews quickly shut down power to the pole and determined it was stable enough that residents would not need to be evacuated.

Within hours, an SDG&E crew was working on replacing the pole. While inspecting the base of the pole, an SDG&E worker at the scene commented that the pole broke because of dry-rot.

The tenants of the apartment unit most affected by the accident were in good spirits as they watched a crane remove the pole that fell just inches from their living room window. No one was injured.