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Paraglider collision with power lines causes outage

Source: Ogden City Fire Dept.) A parachute hangs from a power line at the scene of an accident involving a paraglider Wednesday afternoon. The accident caused nearly 9,000 Ogden residents, including  Weber State University, to lose power for more than an hour.
(Source: Ogden City Fire Department) A parachute hangs from a power line at the scene of an accident involving a paraglider Wednesday afternoon. The accident caused nearly 9,000 Ogden residents and businesses, including Weber State University, to lose power for more than an hour.

After a collision with power lines on the corner of 32nd Street and Taylor Avenue in Ogden, an individual operating a powered parachute caused a power outage that shut down Weber State University and some businesses on Harrison Boulevard yesterday. The outage, which spread across a quarter of the southeast side of Ogden and South Ogden, happened at 4:05 p.m.

Lt. Scott Conley with the South Ogden Police Department said the paraglider sustained no injuries but was treated on the scene. The power lines, on the other hand, suffered damage and were fixed last night.

According to Conley, Rocky Mountain Power was at the scene of the crash at Mount Ogden Park on 32nd and Taylor. Power was restored to almost 9,000 residents at around 5:50 p.m. Residents and businesses, including WSU,  in the 84403, 84404 and 84405 zip codes were affected.

The Ogden City Fire Department also responded to the accident. Eric Bauman, deputy fire chief, said in a press release that the power outage caused “a small grass fire on the adjacent Mount Ogden Golf Course, above the green of the seventh hole. The fire was extinguished quickly with minimal damage.”

According to Bauman, three individuals were operating powered parachutes in Mount Ogden Park yesterday afternoon. One pilot crashed into the power lines on takeoff.

Students on WSU campus were taken by surprise when computer screens went dark, lights suddenly went off and the doors of the Shepherd Union Building locked themselves after the power went out.

“I came to school to write a paper, do what I need to do,” said Jonathan Basler, a public relations and marketing senior, when the power was out. “Now that there’s a power outage, I can’t really do it anymore. If it’s out in Ogden, it probably means it’s out at my apartment too . . . I need the Internet. I guess I’ll use my phone to do my research.”

Although power was restored to residents and businesses, the pedestrian light on Edvalson Street on campus was blinking and flashing until a crew from UDot came out to fix it this morning. The malfunctioning light caused a slight delay for student traffic, but no serious incidents were reported.

The Signpost news editor Skyler Pyle contributed to this story.

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