
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, October 23, 1995                   TAG: 9510230166
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SALEM VAN CRASH DOWNS POWER LINES

Roanoke Boulevard in Salem from Hemlock Road to Virginia 419 was closed for four hours Sunday evening after a van knocked over a utility pole, dropping live wires across the roadway.

Salem police Lt. Mike Fisher said a van driven by a juvenile went off the right side of the road about 7:30 p.m. and hit a guy wire, causing an electric pole to break.

Six to eight high-voltage wires fell across Roanoke Boulevard and into the parking lot of the General Electric Drive Systems plant.

No power outages were reported by Appalachian Power Co., and the Salem Electric Department did not have any repair crews out at 11:30 p.m. Sunday.

The van's driver and two passengers, also juveniles, were taken to a Roanoke Valley hospital with minor injuries, Fisher said. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

by CNB