UPDATED: Power knocked out after pole severed in Langley

Power was out for a few thousand people in Langley Saturday night, after a truck severed a power pole in Brookswood at about 8:30 p.m

The cause of the accident is still unknown, but emergency crews were on scene for some time after a white Ford F-150 pickup truck crashed into the pole.

The driver was heading westbound on 40th Avenue just east of 200th Street at about 8:37 p.m. when the truck veered off and knocked down the pole.

The driver fled the scene, said Cpl. Holly Largy, spokesperson for the Langley RCMP. A police dog tracking team was brought in, but couldn’t find the driver’s trail, partly because so many residents had emerged from their homes to try to see what had knocked out their power so suddenly, Largy said.

The driver was not located, but the registered owner of the truck was given a violation ticket. The truck suffered severe front end damage.

Largy said the vehicle was not stolen.

The outage coincided with Earth Hour, which started at 8:30 p.m. Saturday where people around the globe turn off unnecessary lights and appliances for an hour as part of a grassroots environmental movement designed to draw attention to the impacts of climate change.

Many residents in Brookswood took part – whether it was their intention or not.

BC Hydro was reporting more than 2,100 customers were without power – the outage initially spread north from 35th to 48th Avenue, west from 208th to 192nd Street. That area was later minimized, but as of midnight Saturday still more than 750 homes in the neighbourhood were still without power.

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