A 52-year-old woman is dead and a man was sent to hospital following a bizarre crash in Dieppe, N.B., Thursday night.
Emergency crews were called to the scene in the 500 block of Gauvin Road around 5:30 p.m.
Codiac RCMP say a red pickup truck stuck the woman before veering into a power pole, which quickly caught fire and knocked out power to more than 600 people in the area.
Staff Sgt. Eric Larose says an off-duty RCMP officer attempted CPR on the woman, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Fire crews were called to put out a fire that started after the truck hit the power pole. There were live wires on the ground.
“It was significant damage,” said assistant property manager Bryan Tisdall. “Pretty shocking when you first pull up to see what happened, especially when you hear about what happened to the poor woman who was walking.”
Police say the 20-year-old driver was taken to hospital and later released.
Crews are reviewing the damage and searching for remnants of oil and transmission fuel that could spark another fire.
The power remains out at the damaged apartment building, with siding withered by the flames. Tisdall says most tenants have left for now, either staying with family and friends or taking advantage of accommodations provided by the Canadian Red Cross.
Power could remain out for quite some time. Workers on site are still assessing the damage to equipment underground. Until they can do that, they say there's no use in putting up a new power pole.
“Our contractor that's working in the building has to replace the main breaker panel that was destroyed when the wires were ripped out of the building,” said Tisdall. “We have to replace the conduit underground and then rewire everything.”
A large generator will be up and running by the end of the day, but it could take more than a week to fix the damaged underground equipment.
Declining an on-camera interview with CTV News, RCMP say the investigation is ongoing, but drugs, alcohol and speed are not considered to be factors. The driver of the truck will not face charges.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Cami Kepke.
