About 50 residences and businesses suffered damage to appliances — from printers to microwaves to big-ticket items like furnaces — as a result of the power surge caused by the vehicle vs. power pole accident on Highway 12 in Central Park on Feb. 4.

Home and business owners are now dealing with insurance companies to see if what is in some cases thousands of dollars in damage will be covered by homeowners policies.

The Fire District 2 station, very near to the source of the crash, was among those impacted.

“We are still assessing the the damage,” said Fire Chief Leonard Johnson on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re looking at $8,000 to $10,000 in damage right now — that’s our preliminary number.”

The District 2 station sign is the most noticeable part of the station impacted by the outage, seen daily by commuters through the Central Park area, its bright red letters spelling out the time and temperature and community announcements. It has been dark since the crash. About half the interior and exterior lights were lost as a result of the power surge, said Johnson. All but one printer inside was hooked up to power strips with surge protectors inside the station; Johnson said all the power strips and that one lone printer were lost.

“It hasn’t affected our operations at all,” said Johnson. The fire station was on emergency power until the PUD completed its repairs in the area, and the station returned to normal power the following morning, and was able to respond to five vehicle accident calls in the snow and sleet Monday afternoon.

A resident of Holbrook Lane who wished to remain anonymous called The Daily World on Feb. 7 to report she had lost her furnace and had damage estimated around $7,000. She said many of her neighbors were also suffering losses of their furnaces and other damage related to the outage. As of Tuesday, her homeowner’s insurance claim had been denied twice and she is using space heaters to fight the cold temperatures of the past week.

Dani Watts with Sunset Air in South Bend, which serves Aberdeen and Central Park customers, said they have received about 15 or 20 service calls from properties in the area since the day of the crash. She said the cost of repairs up front is up to the individual homeowner. They then can check with their homeowner’s insurance providers to see if they are covered. She said some homeowners “have been approved, and some have not” as of a week after the incident. Johnson said residents have been contacting the fire district about the damages; he said some are getting approval for repairs from their homeowners policies, some are not.

Grays Harbor PUD has logged around 50 calls from customers complaining of damage, according to a list provided by PUD administrative services coordinator Tracy Dugas.

PUD spokesman Ian Cope said soon after the crash that the PUD is not liable for the damages incurred due to the power surge. Ultimately, he said, the responsibility falls on the driver who knocked down the pole and his insurance. Unfortunately, the Washington State Patrol confirmed late Tuesday the driver did not have insurance.

Impacted areas included Hirschbeck Heights, Holbrook Lane, Linkshire Drive, Reynvaan Drive, Brenton Lane, Fairway Drive, Linkshire Terrace, and 14 addresses on the Olympic Highway between the 3000 and 7000 blocks. The area covers the highway and several side streets from across from Sideline Wrecking just west of Aberdeen Lake Road to a couple of blocks east of the fire station.

Whether an insurance provider will pay for the damages incurred in such an incident depends on the specific language of the homeowners policy, said Kara Klotz with the State Insurance Commissioner’s Office. Since the language of insurance policies isn’t always easy to decipher, Klotz recommends calling her office for advice if their claim is denied.

“If a claim is denied people can call our office and we’ll help them go through their coverage,” said Klotz.

Those impacted can call 800-562-6900 for help. Complaints can also be filed online at insurance.wa.gov. At the top left of the page, click on “For Consumers,” then select “Complaints & appeals” for the online complaint form.