CRESSONA - A woman was flown to a trauma center after the car she was driving struck a utility pole and garage on Pottsville Street just before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, causing homes and businesses in the area to lose electricity.
State police at Schuylkill Haven said Margaret Phillips, Blandon, was driving a 2007 Ford Fusion west in the area of 142 Pottsville St., toward Route 183, when she lost control, went off the road and struck a utility pole. After hitting the pole, police said, the car traveled northwest and struck a garage at 132 Pottsville St.
Police said Phillips was taken to the Cressona Mall parking lot and then flown to Reading Hospital and Medical Center, West Reading, for treatment of injuries she suffered in the crash.
Firefighters and fire police manned traffic lights at the intersections of routes 183 and 901, Route 61 at the Cressona Mall and Route 61 and Pottsville Street for several hours, battling 20-degree temperatures.
Fire officials at the scene said power was disrupted to homes near crash, the Cressona Mall and some homes on Seven Stars Road.
James Nulton, regional community relations director with PPL Electric Utilities, said 484 customers were affected by the outage. He said crews were on scene quickly and replaced the pole, restoring electricity to all those affected by about 9:55 a.m.
A supervisor at the Schuylkill County Communications Center said Route 183 between Route 61 and Route 901 was also closed while repairs were made.
Firefighters from Cressona and Schuylkill Haven assisted at the crash site while fire police from both departments, as well as Mount Carbon, assisted with traffic control at the busy intersections along Route 61.