Shortly after noon today, May 4th, an SUV crashed into a pole in the 5200 block of Nielsen Avenue after colliding with a US Postal Service truck. Law enforcement and aid crews responded. According to initial reports from the scene, wires and a broken power pole are blocking the road.
Ferndale Police Sergeant Kevin Davis said it was determined both vehicles were traveling southbound on Nielsen Avenue when the postal truck slowed to make a left turn. The 2008 Chevrolet Equinox SUV attempted to pass the postal truck on the left, striking the front driver’s side of the mail truck with its rear passenger side. The SUV went off the east side of the road into the ditch and struck a utility pole, which broke on impact. The pole and wires fell into the roadway and wires ended up across the mail truck.
The only occupants were the drivers in each vehicle.
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Whatcom County Fire District 7 Division Chief Ben Boyko said the driver of the postal truck refused aid and the driver of the SUV was treated and released at the scene.
Puget Sound Energy reported 25 customers along Nielsen Avenue were without power as a result of the downed power line. As of 5:40pm, the estimate for restoring power was about 7pm this evening. The road is expected to be closed much of that time while PSE crews replace the pole and repair the downed lines.
Neilsen Avenue is the primary access into and out of Hovander Homestead Park and Tennant Lake. With the road determined to remained closed for an extended period, Park officials opened a gate to enable park visitors to exit via a dirt road through the off-leash dog park area to the WDFW boat launch and Baker Street.
