Crash on Golden Valley knocks out local phones

A truck slammed into an electrical unit and utility pole on Golden Valley Road Wednesday, creating a small fuel spill and knocking out phone service to nearby businesses.

The traffic collision happened about 1:20 p.m. Wednesday on Golden Valley at Centre Pointe Parkway when a Hertz rental truck hit a pole and electrical box.

Some businesses between Centre Pointe and Soledad Canyon Road were left without phone service.

“We have no phones and no internet and that is a huge concern,” Connie Reyes, of Liberty Building Maintenance on Ruether told The Signal.

A check with the Santa Clarita Aquatics Center revealed that the phone outage did not affect the center.

No one was hurt in the incident, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

“This came in as a fuel spill,” he said, noting the concern for emergency response crews was for gasoline leaking.

The crash prompted a call to both public works crews with the City of Santa Clarita and officials with Southern California Edison.

Carrie Lujan, spokeswoman for the City of Santa Clarita, said the crash took out the traffic signal box but with no interruption to the traffic lights thanks to backup battery.

“The truck in question appears to have run over a few electrical service cabinets at the intersection, including the service cabinet for the signal system,” she said.

Repairs to the traffic signal service cabinet were expected to be completed sometime Wednesday night.

As for Southern California Edison, the truck damaged a “padmount switch,” a spokeswoman said, noting the damage did not result in any power outages.

“A padmount transformer is a type of above ground transformer that sits on a concrete pad on the floor, usually in a large metal box,” Yvonne Lee, spokeswoman for Edison said. “They can be connected to overhead equipment or to underground equipment.”

The small spill, however, did not require a response from the Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials unit.