Lightning takes out power pole in Glendale

A lightning strike in Glendale hit a transmission pole early Saturday morning, disrupting rail service nearby.

The lightning hit a pole nearby the Glendale Water & Power plant at San Fernando Road and Fairmont Avenue just after midnight, said city spokesman Tom Lorenz.

The strike “sheared the top of the pole” and power lines hung over the adjacent railroad tracks. All rail service in the area was stopped.

“The lightning struck the pole just below the cross bars that hold the wires,” Lorenz said. “So when it struck the pole, the top section snapped off and it was left hanging there. None of the power lines came down, they were just dangling.”

Crews from Glendale Water & Power contained the damage to prevent outages to customers. They removed the lines, as well as the damaged part of the pole.

About a dozen homes were without power due to the storm Friday night, but Lorenz said those outages were not related to the lightning strike.