Bill Hamer of Fischer's Towing puts chains around a large forklift to lift it out of the yard of St. Joseph's Cultural Center Friday. (Photo by Eileen Joyce)

More than 150 customers lost power Friday when a forklift operator knocked over a power pole on Dalton Street near St. Joseph's Cultural Center in Grass Valley.

The forklift also sheared the center's iron fence and landed in the former convent's garden.

The driver lost control of the forklift when its engine stalled, said Sgt. Dave Remillard of the Grass Valley Police Department. The driver, whose name was unavailable, was wearing his seat belt and was not injured, Remillard said.

Cable and telephone services were also affected.

Foothills Community Access Television, based at St. Joseph's, went off the air.

Power was restored by 10 p.m. but cable and phone service remained out.

As of 8:30 p.m., FCAT was still off the air, said Jack Strickland, the station's interim executive director. "Everything is off," he said. "Totally off."

A neighbor who heard the crash and called 911 at 9:44 a.m., according to Grass Valley police logs.

"It sounded like something crashed in my living room," said the caller, Alice Sheridan, who lives on South Church Street near the cultural center, a former convent and orphanage built during the Gold Rush years. She first thought her cat had run into the living room's windows, she said.

The forklift operator worked for Gold Country Roofing, a company hired to repair the cultural center's roof, said Joseph Guida, executive director of the center.

The man was traveling down Dalton Street to pick up some roofing materials, Guida said.

Gold Country Roofing has insurance, Guida said, adding he doesn't know the cost of the damage.

The roof repairs should be completed by the end of the month, he said.

[GVFD AND NCCFD RESPONDED]

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