Paraglider Crash Near Healdsburg Knocks Out Power

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — A paraglider crashed Friday morning on a Russian River beach east of Healdsburg — clipping some power lines on the way down, a Sonoma County sheriff's official said. The paraglider was not injured but the incident did cause a power outage, sheriff's Spokeswoman Misti Harris said in a news release.

Harris said the paraglider took off from Geyserville where he lives and was paragliding south when he crash-landed on Del Rio Woods Beach, just off of S. Fitch Mountain Road.

"Luckily, the man was not hurt," Harris said about the incident reported at 9:20 a.m. Friday. "He removed the parachute from the trees and walked away."

Personnel with the sheriff's office, PG&E and the Healdsburg Fire Department all responded to the scene.

PG&E shut off power in the area due to the damaged lines, Harris said.

The sheriff's office asked folks to avoid the area so crews have room to work on the narrow roads.
"The man was medically evaluated and released at the scene," Harris said. "PG&E crews are on scene repairing the lines and expect power to be back on soon."

The incident initially left 467 customers without service but as of 10:30 a.m., service was restored to all but 50 of those customers, PG&E Spokeswoman Deanna Contreras said in an emailed response to Patch.

"Crews are working as safely and quickly as possible to make repairs to the line and restore power to the 50 customers who were impacted just after 9 a.m.," Contreras said. "Estimated restoral time for now is 10:30 tonight. There are three lines that are low-hanging across the river crossing, so crews will need to make repairs and restring those lines."

Image via Patch