KAKE – December 16, 2013
A power line fell near Clearwater and sparked a massive grass fire. The fire is out, but so is power most of Harper, Kingman and Sumner Counties.
Sedgwick County and Clearwater crews were called to the area of 215th Street West and 111th Street South after a power line ignited bales of hay.
Authorities say an arm on the power pole broke, causing the power line to fall on top of a group of 40 hay bales, igniting them.
A spokesman for Wheatland Electric says the line belongs to Westar Energy but supplies power to the company for Harper, Kingman and Sumner County. Westar Energy crews are working to repair the line and restore service.
Dispatchers in Sumner County say the outage is affecting much of their county. Harper County officials say power is out to the northern sections of their county, while in Kingman County, mainly the southern portions of the county are affected.
There are also reports of outages as far west as Medicine Lodge. It could take anywhere from six to 24 hours before power is restored to those affected.
Westar crews are working now to repair the damaged lines. A spokesperson says they had to bring in two new 40 foot poles.
A Wheatland Electric spokesperson told us about 5,000 of their customers are without power. They hope to restore power by 4 AM Monday.
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