By Ryan Sabalow, Sacramento Bee

Bill Steacy was driving west on Highway 50 near Shingle Springs Saturday evening with his wife and two young children. Suddenly, up ahead it looked like fireworks erupted over the freeway. Power lines were blocking the path of the Monterey family’s Toyota Tacoma pickup.

“These things were bouncing up and down, and it looked like tentacles on a giant monster,” Steacy said. “There was just no way to slow down in time to miss them.”

The front of Steacy’s pickup was badly damaged, but no one in the Tacoma was hurt in the chaotic 7pm traffic accident that lead to the closure of both directions of Highway 50 for nearly two hours. Nearly 4,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers in the Shingle Springs area lost power.

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