SYLMAR (CNS) - A woman in her 20s was arrested on suspicion of DUI this morning after the vehicle she was driving sheared a fire hydrant in Sylmar and knocked down several power poles, leaving her and a 17-year-old passenger hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.
About 1:30 a.m., the vehicle was traveling southbound on San Fernando Road from Astoria Street at a high rate of speed when the driver ran off the road, hit a tree, a fire hydrant, a power pole and a street sign, then slid to the south side of Bleeker Street and hit another power pole and a fence, Officer Randie Ferraz of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division told NBC4.
The fire hydrant was sheared off and sent water shooting up into power lines and created a possible electrical hazard, said Nicholas Prange of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The two women were extricated from the wreckage of the one-vehicle crash by firefighters and taken to a hospital in critical condition, he said.
Crews had received reports of at least two more patients, but none were located, Prange said.
Repair crews from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power worked to repair the power lines, he said.
Approximately 30 LADWP customers were without power, Ferraz said.
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