Truck hits power pole In Oceanside, CA and causes fire

Area in Oceanside, CA where the pole fell over and started a fire. Photo from Google Maps.

Over the weekend the San Diego Union Tribune reported that a truck driver backed into a power pole in Oceanside. The driver hit the pole which then fell over and ignited the dry grass near where the pole fell. From the report the fire burned for about a half hour before it was put out by the Oceanside fire department.
Let’s take a closer look at what could have happened here. It seems odd to hear a truck backing into a power pole and it just happens to falls over. Generally, if a truck backing up are moving at pretty slow speeds. Aren’t these poles supposed to be buried deep into the ground. It seems reasonable that if a big semi truck were to hit a pole it would end up leaning. But, how did this pole actually fall over.
Since my antenna was up on this story I decided to take a closer look. The news article listed the intersection of Melrose and Santa Fe Ave in Oceanside. Further into the story the fire Battalion Chief mentions the pole was at Willowbrook drive and Melrose. 
Going to Google street view I scanned Willowbrook. I came to a turn in the road and I found what looks like a storage area for trailers (see photo above). Where trailers are parked that usually means trucks come and go. Then I noticed this in the Google street view.
​Does anyone see what I do? It looks like the power pole had prior damage and now was being supported by a small metal post strapped to the power pole. Uhm, should we be fixing power poles with a stop sign pole? No wonder a truck was able to back in and knock over the power line so easily. I’m not saying this was in fact the power pole that fell over. But, it seems like a good possibility.
Hopefully, this power pole will get a more permanent fix this time around. It is very fortunate that the fire was put out so quickly. Great job Oceanside FD for getting to the scene and putting it out after only a few acres burned. There is a lot of vegetation in the surrounding area and it could have easily grown quickly and caused damage to the surrounding homes.
In this case the truck driver has a commercial auto insurance policy. He or she would have a limit probably in the range of a million dollars for anything they could hit with their truck. The driver would be charged an at fault accident for hitting a non moving object. It will be interesting to see what the truck’s insurance company ends up paying in this accident. Clearly, the driver was at fault and would be responsible for fixing or replacing the power pole. I'm not sure what that costs is but, I saw one site online saying it runs around $3,000. That seems like a pretty good bargain.
If you want to review your auto insurance limits give me a call at 951-395-0754.

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