***UPDATED 5:00***

Manitoba Hydro has planned an emergency outage for Grunthal following a collision with a hydro pole that happened Wednesday afternoon.

Spokesperson Bruce Owen explains that they need to turn the power off while they replace the damaged pole. "Grunthal will have an emergency outage that will affect approximately 640 customers starting at 7 PM," states Owen, who hopes the outage will last no longer than one hour.

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Grunthal firefighters did not have far to a drive after a westbound van crashed into a hydro pole directly in front of the fire hall at 2 PM Wednesday afternoon.

According to Grunthal Fire Captain Chris Gerbrandt, the vehicle lost control and hit the hydro pole at a speed great enough to damage it considerably. The lone occupant of the vehicle, however, was not injured.

Immediately after the accident, the small stretch of Main Street adjacent to the collision was temporarily reduced to single lane traffic as fire crews cleaned up the site.

RCMP say the driver was a 70-year-old male from Grunthal. The cause of the collision remains under police investigation.