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Street closed in Tacoma after transit bus loses power, hits utility pole, police say

The bus lost power in the 3400 block of South Pine Street Sunday morning, which is near South Tacoma Way, according to police.
The bus lost power in the 3400 block of South Pine Street Sunday morning, which is near South Tacoma Way, according to police. Courtesy

A Tacoma street is closed after a Pierce Transit hybrid bus lost power Sunday and rolled into a power pole, according to the Tacoma Police Department.

About 9:20 a.m., the bus was climbing the hill on South Pine Street when the vehicle lost power, detective William Muse said.

To avoid having the bus veer into traffic, the driver turned the steering wheel in the opposite direction but crashed into a power pole, knocking out power to the immediate area, Muse said.

The driver was not hurt, but one passenger suffered a minor injury to his right leg. He was checked out by a Tacoma fire crew but was not transported to the hospital.

Pine Street, between South Tacoma Way and South 35th Street, remained about closed about 2:30 p.m., Muse said. Officers are not on scene, but there are barricades in place, he said.

The bus is there because it is covered in power lines, Muse said.

According to the Tacoma Public Utilities’ outage map, two customers, as of about 2:30 p.m., were still affected by the outage.

Rolf Boone
The Olympian
Rolf has worked at The Olympian since August 2005. He covers breaking news, the city of Lacey and business for the paper. Rolf graduated from The Evergreen State College in 1990. Support my work with a digital subscription
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