Garbage truck driver breaks power pole in Marysville

MARYSVILLE, Wash. — A Waste Management truck driver forgot to put the bucket down while picking up garbage in Marysville, snagging power and phone lines, and breaking the power pole on Tuesday.

Neighbor Robert Doran described hearing a “snap, crack, and boom.”

"I come running outside, there's power lines dangling everywhere,” he said.

The transformer was down on the ground, leaking oil.

One truck was totaled, its front end smashed in.

“There were live wires coming down-- broke off the antennae of my truck,” neighbor Norman Selset said.

“It was scary,” Judi Humphrey, Doran’s aunt, said. She was parked on the street, visiting her sister.

Doran tried to hop over a wire as he rushed outside.

“It was kind of still swinging and live-- and it nicked my leg, dropped me right here,” he said.

He got checked out at the hospital and, he said, was okay. He was just glad his five-month-old daughter and his girlfriend, who were both in an RV near the incident, were unharmed.

“It could have been worse,” Humphrey said. “Somebody could have really gotten hurt.”

Selset didn't get his power back until a day later.

“I put my camping gear to use!” he said.

Although power crews installed the new power pole overnight, Humphrey said it was only Friday morning when they stopped by to retrieve the last of the old wires draped across bushes and trees.

She said she is still waiting for Waste Management's insurance company to give her an assessment on her car. Humphrey believes there should have been more communication.

“The company didn't come to see if these people were all right, knowing the damage that they'd done,” she said.

KIRO 7 contacted Waste Management. Spokesperson John Chelminiak said in part, “We sincerely apologize. We went immediately into getting the claim adjusters on site but the reality is it's taking a little while to fully understand exactly what happened. We want to make sure we get things correct and sometimes that unfortunately takes time.”

The Marysville Police Department said the driver was not booked on investigation of any charges.

Waste Management said it is reviewing the incident but said it appears to have been a mistake and that no alcohol or drugs were involved.

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