By Ron VandenBoom
A conductor break on a power pole caused an estimated 700 Montana Power customers in Havre to be without power Monday night while crews worked to repair damage to a power line in east Havre.
A conductor break that occurred about 8:30 p.m. was responsible for the outage, said Pat Patterson manager for Montana Power Company in Havre.
The break caused at least two loud bangs as well as arching and sparks to be emitted from the power line located on 13th Avenue between Second and Third Street.
About 100 of the affected residents would not have their power restored until the break was repaired more than two hours later at about 11 p.m., Patterson said.
Other affected customers would have power restored temporarily after the break until Montana Power shut the power down to all customers while they administered repairs.
Patterson said the area impacted by the outage ran from Montana Avenue east to 14th Avenue along Second and Third Streets. Another affected area ran in a half circle south along 14th Avenue.
Havre Police and Fire Departments responded to the call at 8:21 p.m. where, according to department sources, they remained until 9:48 p.m. to insure there were no fires or injuries related to arching or sparks from the blown fuses or conductor.
Patterson said the conductor break was due to normal ware and tear on the line.
