A collision with a utility pole caused power to be knocked out to a large portion of the capital city for several hours this morning.

A vehicle smashed into a pole near Water Street West this morning around 8:30 a.m. The collision cracked the pole off sending power lines down onto the road.

The area was cordoned off by the St. John’s Regional Fire Department as Newfoundland Power crews got to work.

The outage affected many areas of the downtown including Victoria Street, Harbour Drive and Shea Heights.