Power risk as racer's car burns | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

A young driver who was racing a friend near Roy's Hill, Hastings, hit a power pole and took off in the friend's car last night.

The Mitsubishi Triton ute he had been driving then caught fire.

The Hastings Fire Service was called to State Highway 50 after 10.30pm but could not fight the fire until Unison was able to cut the power.

"It burnt out because we weren't going to fight it for no reason with the heavy-duty power cables hanging around out there," Senior Station Officer Kerry Harford said.

They were called back to dampen down at 2am once Unison had cut the power.

Unison spokesman Danny Gough said 37 customers would have lost power until about 8.30 this morning so the power pole could be replaced.