Several power poles toppled over for unknown reasons in El Cajon Thursday afternoon, creating a domino effect, according to officials.
Heartland Fire & Rescue and San Diego Gas & Electric officials arrived in the 300 block of South Mollison Avenue and East Lexington Avenue around 4:45 p.m. to check out reports of five to six downed power poles.
Some of the poles were leaning, whole others had fully fallen over into the street.
Fire officials set up a command post near the intersection and secured the area for investigation. Officials were concerned the poles might be energized, so they've asked residents to stay away from the area.
Officials temporarily blocked off traffic at Mollision Avenue between Main Street and Washington Avenue, while police provided traffic control.
SDG&E officials are working to de-energize the affected poles. Eventually, officials plan to get the poles upright and make necessary repairs. AT&T and Cox Cable crews are also at the scene.
Officials say the cause of the downed power poles is unknown at this point.
The first downed pole was reported at about 4:30 p.m., and as far as officials can tell, this created a chain reaction, causing several other poles to follow suit and topple over.
No one was injured and there were no car accidents on the impacted streets.
El Cajon PIO Monica Zech said a two poles fell down completely, and six others were leaning and "compromised." She said officials would likely remain at the scene all night making repairs.
The incident caused a related power outage in the El Cajon area at around 4:30 p.m., according to SDG&E. The outage initially left approximately 1,500 customers without power.
Telephone and cable service were also impacted.
A Heartland Fire spokesperson told NBC 7 that in addition to finding enough crews to replace the poles, officials will also have to wait for crews to identify where water, gas and sewer lines are located before they can start digging.
As of 6:40 p.m., crews said they believe the repair job could last through the night.
SDG&E spokesperson Amber Albrecht told NBC 7 power could be restored soon to El Cajon residents. It will be re-routed through other secondary lines while downed lines are replaced.
Although one El Cajon resident told NBC 7 she saw some power poles leaning Wednesday, Albrecht said she was not aware of any calls or concerns.
Partial power was restored to some residents by 6:10 p.m. As of 7:45 p.m., there were still about 600 people without power in the area. Full restoration for them is expected at 11 p.m.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
Photo Credit: Artie Ojeda