Steinbach emergency crews are asking motorists to avoid the area of Mckenzie Avenue and Third Street this morning.

Deputy Fire Chief Ron Chausse says, around 4:30 a.m., an eastbound pickup truck went out of control and struck a hydro pole.

Sheared off hydro pole."So what has happened here is a hydro pole has been sheared in half. Unfortunately, it also contains a transformer and we're also dealing with high voltage here. Manitoba Hydro will be busy here trying to effect repairs."

Chausse says the driver and lone occupant of the pickup was not injured.

He expects it will take several hours until repairs can be completed.

Chausse commends Manitoba Hydro for its quick response, noting this was a major and costly repair and was dealt with promptly.

Bruce Owen of Manitoba Hydro says they had to cut power to about 550 customers from 5:54 to 6:20 a.m. as part of the repairs. The outage affected customers in the south end of Steinbach and up to four miles south of the city.