Route 28/66 Vehicle Accident Injures One

by Jonathan Weaver

Midnight and early-morning traffic along a local highway was shut down for hours this morning after a one-vehicle accident.

A white-pickup truck collided with a utility pole along State Route 28/66 in Valley Township near McAuley Falls Road (across from Tri-County Truck Center).

The accident not only sheared a telephone pole and dragged wires down across the roadway, but also caused several spot fires in the area for Pine Township, Rayburn Township and Kittanning Township volunteer fire crews to extinguish.

Because of the hazards, PennDOT crews were notified. South-bound traffic was diverted onto Cornman Road.

State Police troopers from the Kittanning barracks also assisted.

Kittanning #6 Ambulance emergency responders transported the lone vehicle occupant – whose identity has not been released – to Armstrong County Memorial Hospital in East Franklin Township. A medical helicopter was originally on stand-by, but was not needed.

Fire crews left the scene after two hours on-scene.

Up to 500 West Penn Power customers lost electricity during the accident according to the online First Energy outage map.

Power was to be restored by 6AM.