Early on the morning of Monday, January 16, a fiery accident on South Main Street at its intersection with Greenbriar Lane, caused a temporary power outage in that area. The crash also resulted in a ten-hour closure of a section of South Main Street (Route 25) to through-traffic, as utility crews worked to install a new utility pole and rehang the many utility lines that run parallel to that thoroughfare.

By 11 am Monday, police allowed alternating one-way traffic to travel on South Main Street in the accident area. Two-way traffic was expected to be restored by noon.

Because Monday was a holiday, traffic problems on South Main Street caused by the crash were not as extensive as they would have been otherwise, police said.

Motorist Hugo Pereira-Neves, 32, of Danbury was driving a 2007 Subaru Legacy northward near 89 South Main Street about 1:05 am, when he failed to negotiate a left curve in the roadway and then drove off the right side of the street, striking a wooden guardpost and a utility pole. The motorist was outside the vehicle when firefighters arrived at the scene.

The Subaru caught fire after the impact, destroying the vehicle, police said. Pereira-Neves was not injured in the incident, according to police. Police issued him an infraction for failure to maintain the proper lane.

Newtown Hook & Ladder Fire Chief Ray Corbo said that when volunteer firefighters arrived, they found the Subaru fully ablaze atop some boulders on an embankment adjacent to the street. Firefighters used about 400 gallons of water to extinguish the blaze, which occurred in freezing temperatures, he said.

Chief Corbo said the lower section of the snapped utility pole was found lying horizontally on the ground. The vertical upper section of the pole, which had multiple utility lines still attached to it, was suspended in mid-air.

After firefighters put out the blaze, the heavily-damaged vehicle was plucked from its position atop the boulders with the use of a wrecker that employs a crane. The seven firefighters who responded spent about 90 minutes at the scene, the chief said.