Pickup truck sparks gas station fire

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) - A pickup truck struck a utility pole early Wednesday morning, causing wires to fall to the ground and a fire inside a gas station.

Lou Thurston with the Newport News Police Department said the crash occurred around 5 a.m. in the area of 27th Street and Buxton Avenue. The downed wires resulted in traffic being blocked as well as a power outage.

As of 5:30 a.m., only two Dominion Virginia Power customers were in the dark in Newport News.

The crash caused an electrical short inside the Citgo Convenience store in the 1500 block of 27th Street, Battalion Chief J. Douglas Carper, II with the Newport News Fire Department said. the fire was brought under control in a matter of minutes.

The fire was also confined to the area around the panel box in the business. 

Thurston said if there were any injuries in the crash, they did not appear serious. Further information surrounding the crash was not immediately available.