Nobody was injured when a car hit a power pole on Highway 20 south of Oak Harbor early Sunday afternoon, but the impact sheered off the pole and cut power to about 5,000 island households.

The State Patrol reported that 50-year-old Denise Goldhagen of Coupeville was driving a 2001 Chevrolet van southbound on the highway and went off the roadway to the right in the Rolling Hills area.

The car struck a power pole, sheering it off and causing it to fall across the highway. Loose power lines started a brush fire that engulfed the van.

The accident was reported at 12:36 p.m. “Driver inattention” caused the accident, according to the State Patrol.

The State Patrol and other emergency responders detoured highway traffic at Monroe Landing and Arnold roads for 12 hours while a Puget Sound Energy crew replaced the 65-foot pole and re-wired the lines.

Island County Fire District 2 Chief Marv Koorn said firefighters had to wait for PSE to cut the power in the lines before extinguishing the flaming van. By the time they got to the van, he said, it was “pretty much a burned-out shell.” About a half acre of grass and brush were also scorched.

According to PSE spokesperson Dorothy Bracken, the accident cut power to 5,000 customers. Within an hour, crews had power back on to all but 150 households near the site of the accident.

Bracken said crews had to put up the pole and power lines before power could be returned to the last 150 customers. Those households regained power at about 2 a.m. Monday.

The Chevrolet van was totalled.