Early Thursday morning, East Ridge Fire Chief Mike Williams said the high winds on the previous evening were also responsible for power outages at East Ridge Elementary School and Germantown Gardens Apartments.
High winds early Wednesday evening caused a tree to split on which fell across power lines on Marlboro Avenue knocking out power to houses in the area.
A cracking sound at about 8:00 p.m. alerted some residents to a potential problem. About half of a maple tree at the corner of Louise Avenue in the 600 block of Marlboro Avenue slumped over power lines, snapping the lines supplying power.
One live wire was laying on the ground on the west side of Marlboro Avenue. East Ridge Fire Department responded to the scene and called for workers from the Electric Power Board to shut off power to the immediate area.
One car traveling through south on Marlboro narrowly escaped being struck when more of the damaged tree collapsed farther toward the ground.
EPB workers arrived on the scene at 9 p.m to address the problem.
It is not known how many houses in the area were effected by the downed line.
Work crews from the City of East Ridge pick up limbs on Marlboro Avenue, Thursday morning. High winds Wednesday evening brought limbs down on power lines causing brief power outages.
