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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 29, 2005 Lightning bolt scorches power pole downtown By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Shannon Turner was relaxing in her downtown apartment early Thursday watching the DVD "Birth," starring Nicole Kidman, when she heard a loud bang. "It sounded like a transformer exploding," said Turner, who lives in a second-story apartment on Main Street in Medford. The lights in her apartment flickered, went off, then returned, but she looked out her window and saw Main Street was darkened from her apartment down toward City Hall, where she works. A bolt of lightning struck a utility pole at Eighth and Bartlett streets early Thursday, knocking out power to about 445 customers in downtown Medford. Pacific Power crews extinguished the flaming pole soon after the lightning strike at about 1:30 a.m. Customers on Main Street, Riverside Avenue, Front Street and around Rogue Community College were without electricity, according to Monte Mendenhall, regional community manager with Pacific Power. Crews were able to reroute power to nearly 200 customers shortly after the lightning strike. Advertisement Production of the Mail Tribune was stopped by the outage in the middle of the newspaper’s press run, and 7,000 to 8,000 newspapers weren’t printed until power was restored, said Press Manager John Aldridge. Subscribers who didn’t receive newspapers were scattered across the county. The newspapers were delivered later in the day Thursday. After the lightning strike, Pacific Power crews closed off a portion of Eighth Street to remove and replace the damaged pole and clean up the insulator glass that was scattered on the street by the strike. Power was completely restored by 8:55 a.m., said Mendenhall. He said there are lightning arresters and other devices on the power lines to try to prevent such events, but it still happens. "It’s fairly rare but it does occur," he said. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune editor Julie Wurth also contributed to this article. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Advertisement s