Salt buildup causes Kitty Hawk power pole fire, outages Monday

A power pole at the intersection of U.S. Highway 158 and East Kitty Hawk Road in Kitty Hawk catches fire the morning of Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, because of salt buildup. (Screenshot by Outer Banks Insider of video by Justin Stewart)

By Corinne Saunders

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KITTY HAWK — Nearly 4,000 northern Outer Banks customers lost power on Monday morning as salt buildup—in one case, causing a power pole to catch fire—caused mostly short outages, according to a Dominion Energy spokesperson.

“All three phases of the power line blew,” said Justin Stewart of TW’s Bait & Tackle, who captured a video of the power pole at the intersection of U.S. Highway 158 and East Kitty Hawk Road catching fire.

He said that three consecutive explosions corresponded to each of the three power lines on the pole, each of which is a phase of power.

“The first one [exploding], you know. scared the crap out of everybody, then we turned around and saw the second phase do it—and then I grabbed my phone real quick and got the third phase blowing up, but all three of them looked just like that,” Stewart said. “It looked like a bolt of lightning was striking it.”

The sound also caused people to jump, he said: “It’s like a bomb went off; it was very, very loud.”

The Kitty Hawk Police Department posted Monday morning on social media that “Dominion Power and Kitty Hawk Fire Rescue are working on a power pole that has caught fire and is malfunctioning. The fire is under control at this time.”

The police department also reported an additional downed line near the intersection of U.S. Highway 158 and Eckner Street.

While multiple power pole fires were reported around 11 a.m., “Dominion Energy crews determined there was one pole fire that resulted in three main outage locations, affecting nearly 4,000 customers,” company spokesperson Cherise M. Newsome said in a Monday afternoon email to Outer Banks Insider.

“Aside from the pole fire, the other outages appear related to arcing—which are electrical flashes—that caused a blown fuse and downed wire,” she said. “All of them were caused by salt activation.”

Most customers’ power was restored by or before noon, Newsome said. As of 4:30 p.m. on Monday, 125 outages remained on the Outer Banks.

Another outage took place Monday shortly before 11 p.m., caused by “a broken power pole last night due to salt activation,” Newsome said in a Tuesday morning email. That caused nearly 2,650 Outer Banks customers to lose power.

“Dominion Energy crews worked through the night and were able to restore power just after midnight,” Newsome said.

In coastal communities, severe weather, high winds or fog can move salt from the beach to the shore, where it builds up on electrical devices over time, Newsome explained.

While a soaking rain will rinse off the salt, misting or drizzling rain mixes with the layer of salt and “becomes a conductor of electricity on equipment that would otherwise insulate power pole devices,” she said.

This salt activation causes electrical flashes, or arcing, which “can burn electrical devices, cause fires and lead to power outages,” such as the power pole in Kitty Hawk “and others nearby,” Newsome said.

“Outages related to salt activation are difficult to predict and can take several hours to repair,” Newsome said Monday afternoon. “Our crews worked as quickly and as safely as possible to restore power, and they won’t stop until they get all the lights back on.”

She said that anyone experiencing a power outage or who sees arcing or a pole fire should stay away and report it to Dominion Energy by calling 866-DOM-HELP.

Southern Outer Banks travel, schools affected

The section of modular home that blew off its trailer on the Marc Basnight Bridge Monday afternoon and caused extensive travel delays is seen the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, just south of the bridge. (Screenshot of DriveNC.gov livestream)

The coastal low off the Outer Banks coast, also called a nor’easter, that led to the salt buildup on the power lines has also affected travel on Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island.

Part of a mobile home blew off a trailer carrying it across the Marc Basnight Bridge over Oregon Inlet, which caused hourslong travel delays on Monday.

A commercial motor vehicle hauling half a doublewide mobile home was traveling south on N.C. Highway 12 about a half-mile north of Oregon Inlet at 1:38 p.m. when “high sheer winds approximately 65-70 mph caused the mobile home to disconnect from the frame of the trailer,” according to a North Carolina State Highway Patrol Monday afternoon email.

“The mobile home then overturned and landed on the Marc Basnight Bridge railing system,” the email said, noting that very high winds made the recovery “difficult and dangerous.”

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) initially incorrectly reported that all lanes of the bridge reopened around 5:30 p.m. Monday. All lanes were reopened by 9:40 p.m., NCDOT later reported.

The recovered modular home section remained located off the roadway just south of the bridge as of Tuesday morning.

The Dare County Sheriff’s Office in an OBX Alert sent around 9 a.m. Tuesday advised Hatteras Island drivers to be cautious, reporting “areas of sand and standing water” around Pea Island, flooding on both sides of N.C. Highway 12 in areas of Rodanthe and overwash in Buxton.

Dare County Schools in an 8 a.m. Tuesday email announced a remote learning day for Cape Hatteras Elementary, Cape Hatteras Secondary and Dare Early College students from Hatteras “due to continued hazardous road conditions.”

Dare County Schools previously announced a two-hour delay for Hatteras students only around 6:30 a.m. “due to inclement weather and standing water on the roads.”

N.C. Highway 12 on Ocracoke Island closed late Monday afternoon between the northern ferry terminal and the National Park Service Pony Pens due to high winds and ocean overwash, according to NCDOT.

The stretch of road reopened at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday as the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry route resumed after being suspended due to the weather, NCDOT posted on social media.

For real-time travel information, visit NCDOT’s DriveNC.gov and the agency’s social media accounts. People can also receive text or email notifications on ferry schedules and changes through the Ferry Information Notification System, or FINS​.

The U.S. National Weather Service at Newport/Morehead City provides local weather information for Dare County and south. Visit its website or Facebook page.

The U.S. National Weather Service at Wakefield, Virginia, covers Currituck County, including Corolla and north. For more information about that area, visit its website or Facebook page.

To sign up for Dare County-specific severe weather updates and for any other official messaging of interest, visit the OBX Alerts website.

To sign up for Currituck County-specific updates through Currituck Alert, text CTUCKALERT to 888-777. For alerts specific to Corolla and the 4WD beaches, text SAFECOROLLA to 888-777.

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