MONMOUTH, Ill. — A semitruck carrying liquefied asphalt crashed into an Ameren power pole at the junction of Highway 34 and Highway 67 just south of Monmouth Friday morning. The accident caused power outages in the area, according to Warren County Sheriff Martin Edwards.
The accident was called in around 10:45 a.m., Edwards said. Monmouth firefighters and off-duty firefighters responded to the scene, according to the Monmouth Firefighters Local 1702 Facebook page. The Local 1702 page wrote most of Monmouth was without power, affecting multiple intersections as of noon Friday.
The Illinois Department of Transportation closed the section of Highway 34 near the accident and rerouted southbound traffic on Highway 67, starting at 11th Street near Love's truck stop. Northbound traffic on Highway 67 is being rerouted to the exit ramp for Highway 34 at the south junction. Eastbound traffic on Highway 34 at the south junction is being sent through Monmouth, according to a press release written by Edwards.
There is not an estimated time when the roadway will be reopened, the press release wrote.
Edwards said the driver of the semi was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Galesburg, where he would be transported by helicopter to Peoria. He said he did not know the driver's condition.
Edwards said the semi didn't leak any of the liquefied asphalt it was carrying and poses no danger to the public.
Casey Rexroat, fire chief of Monmouth Fire Department, said he asked Ameren representatives for a count of customers affected by the outage, but power was not down long enough to get an accurate estimate.
About 600 people were without power in Warren County at 12:30 p.m, according to PowerOutage.us. As of 1:15 p.m., power has been restored to all customers in Warren County.
Rexroat said multiple agencies responded to the scene of the crash, including the Monmouth Fire Department, City of Monmouth Police, Central Warren Fire Protection District, Illinois State Police, the Warren County Sheriff's Office, Galesburg Hospital Ambulance Service, the Illinois DOT and Ameren.
Watch more news, weather and sports on News 8's YouTube channel