Hundreds without power in Kennewick after dump truck driver forgot to put bed down

A Kennewick dump truck driver ended up tangled in electrical wires, knocking out power to several hundred customers.

The driver near Railroad and Fruitland avenues was working on a construction project about noon Thursday, Kennewick Officer Alexander Holden told the Tri-City Herald.

The driver forgot to put down the bed before going underneath the power lines. The truck’s bed snagged the lines and knocked down utility poles.

It caused 730 Benton PUD customers in East Kennewick to lose power, and shut off traffic signals in the area.

Most of them got their power back within an hour, Benton PUD said in a Facebook post. The remaining 31 customers still affected will be without power for between 10 to 18 hours while crews work on fixing the power lines.

It appeared the crash was caused by the driver not paying attention. No one was hurt, Holden said.