Dump truck causes 2,000 outages

A dump truck drove with its body raised in the air, snagging utility lines and causing a power outage, police explained a day after the incident that put 2,000 Public Service of New Hampshire customers in the dark.

Around 6 a.m. Thursday, a JPK Construction dump truck drove down Henry Clay Drive with its dump body sticking in the air, pulling utility wires and breaking a pole, police said Friday.

When the pole snapped, wires fell on the truck, police said. The driver, 65-year-old Dennis Robert of Nashua, stayed in the truck until firefighters determined it was safe to leave the cab, police said.

The wire break put 2,000 PSNH customers in south Merrimack and north Nashua in the dark. Most customers had power restored later in the morning, and only a handful of customers on Henry Clay Drive had to wait longer, the utility company said.

Shortly after the outage, the fire department said the truck hit a pole. Police didn’t offer a comment on the incident until issuing a press release after 4 a.m. the next day. Police didn’t comment if the driver or if the Merrimack construction company would face any penalties.

– ALBERT MCKEON