Teen crashes SUV into power pole in San Jose

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ByMatt Keller KGO logo
Thursday, October 20, 2016
An SUV crashed into a power pole on Almaden Expressway in San Jose, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016.
An SUV crashed into a power pole on Almaden Expressway in San Jose, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016.
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SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- It took firefighters three hours to rescue a 16-year-old driver from his SUV after he crashed into a power pole Thursday morning.

The crash was horrific. The SUV slammed into the power pole, splitting it in half.

The most life-threatening part of this incident came after that SUV came to a rest on its side. The high voltage lines went down, making the rescue life-threatening to everyone, including the firefighters there to help.

PG&E is in control of the situation, getting power on for most of the homes in the area. Now they have to replace the power pole, which is expected to take hours.

This happened just before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Fire crews were on the scene for several hours, trying to help the driver. They had to navigate through the high-voltage lines to get the driver out.

The driver is expected to survive.

One lane of southbound Almaden Expressway has been reopened. Parts of southbound Almaden Expressway between O'Grady Drive and Rajkovich Way will remain closed on Thursday as crews replace the pole.