Reviewing yesterday’s I-15 closure

What began as a normal commute for many turned into an hour-long ordeal that had parts of I-15 shut down for nearly 4 hours last night.

“We got a call that there was a power line on fire and then we got a subsequent call that the power lines had fallen, they were blocking both the northbound and southbound lanes of I-15.”

“I think we’re very lucky that we didn’t have any major injury happen,” Mayor Blad said. Calling the occurrence,”unheard of, is what it really truly is. When you start looking at that, a major freeway, and like you said, 65 mph speeds, people slamming on their brakes, no accidents, no major injuries, it’s amazing.”

Something Lt. Mike Winans also emphasized.

“We were lucky in that respect, we were also lucky that we didn’t have any secondary collisions, as a result of traffic coming to an abrupt stop. That’s always one of our biggest concerns, is that people aren’t paying attention and they come into something like that.”

Because, “if you’re not paying attention to what’s happening around you, and you cause an accident, because of that, the accident is going to be a lot bigger than just two cars,” Blad said.

Luckily for travelers, the road was cleared by about 8 o’clock last night and power was restored to many by 9 this morning.

While events like this one aren’t super common, Lt. Winans said drivers should always be prepared.

“People need to plan for something like this. They need to make sure that they have sufficient fuel in their cars, during the summer they need to make sure they have water in their cars in case they are stopped on the highway for a while.”

Mayor Blad also praised the collaborative efforts of all the agencies involved in resolving this matter.

Authorities still believe it was a lightning strike that caused the incident.