UPDATE: Fallen Branch Damages Power Line, Knocks Out Power

***Updated at 11:50 a.m. to include information from Hawai’i Electric Light. ***

Hawai’i Electric Light Company has confirmed that 1,310 customers were impacted by a downed electrical line Monday morning.

Just before 8 a.m. a branch fell onto the line, according to Hawai’i Electric Light spokesperson Rhea Lee-Moku. The line did not break, but was downed.

As a result, a high voltage transmission line tripped.

The majority of the customers had power restored by 8:14 a.m.

Lee-Moku said that as of about 11 a.m., approximately 40 customers in the Papaaloa area remained without power. There was no estimate as to when those customers can expect their power returned.

“It’s an ongoing process. Crews are out there now,” Lee-Moku told Big Island Now.

***Original story posted 9:33 a.m.***

A brief fire began Monday morning after a tree branch fell on a high-powered electrical line near the Maulua Gulch, 23 mile marker, on Highway 19. The incident took place just before 8 a.m.

Hawai’i County Fire Department Fire Prevention Officer Monnel Kim said the fire was brief before the weather put it out.

“In these conditions it would be hard to sustain a fire,” Kim said.

According to HFD, Hawai’i Electric Light crews are currently on the scene.

Additional information, including outage impacts as a result of the downed line were not able to be confirmed by Hawai’i Electric Light as of press time.

The company posted to Twitter that around the time of the incident, about 1,310 customers were experiencing an outage from Pepeekeo to Honoka’a. As of 9:20 a.m. most of those customers had power restored.