No one was injured Friday after a box truck took down a utility pole on Spring Street.
The Derby Fire Department closed Spring Street for about an hour at 9 a.m., while United Illuminating crews started cleaning up the downed wires.
Power was shut off at two homes on the street. Griffin Hospital, which is on the same block, was not affected, according to Derby fire officials.
Clinton Edwards was driving the truck, making deliveries for Eastern Bag & Paper. He told the Valley Indy he had just dropped off paper at the hospital and had pulled over to the side of Spring Street to use his GPS to locate his next delivery stop.
Unfortunately, the position put a corner of his truck just under a support wire running from the ground to a utility pole.
As Edwards drove away, his truck hooked the wire, snapping the top of the pole and bringing down the attached wires, according to Derby Fire Department Assistant Chief Tom Lenart, Jr.
Edwards said he felt the truck shudder as he pulled away — but it was already too late.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Edwards said. “But as soon as I looked through the mirror, I saw something dangling and I knew something was not right.”
Edwards pulled the truck over on Maple Avenue, close to the entrance of the emergency room at Griffin Hospital. His delivery truck was damaged — the back panel was pulled away from the rest of the truck.
As of about 9:40 a.m., Edwards was still waiting to talk to police about the accident.
The truck’s clearance was 13 feet, 6 inches.
“I’m always conscious of the height of the vehicle when I go under bridges,” Edwards said, pointing to a height warning sticker attached to his windshield. “This is the first time (I had a problem). I was shocked.”
The utility pole had wires for United Illuminating, ATT&T and the Derby and Ansonia fire departments. The fire department wires bring the signal to sound the fire alarms.