Large wildfire in Northeast damages power line

The 3,000-hectare Beatton Airport Road wildfire burning in the Peace region has damaged a 138,000-volt BC Hydro transmission line, causing a power outage to about 2,800 customers north of Fort St. John in the communities of Prespatou, Milligan Creek, Charlie Lake, Montney and Upper Halfway. The power went out at about 7 p.m. on Monday evening.

BC Hydro conducted a helicopter patrol of the line on Tuesday morning and found that the fire has burnt through 16 transmission structures that carry the transmission line. The line runs from the GMS generating station in Hudsons Hope to the Fort St. John substation.

Today, BC Hydro crews are manually reconfiguring power lines in the area to switch impacted customers to different circuits. BC Hydro expects to have power restored by late afternoon or early this evening.

Strong winds in the Peace region on Monday night caused power outages to more than 6,400 customers. The hardest hit communities were Fort St. John, Smithers, Burns Lake and Fort Nelson. Heavy smoke and road closures hampered restoration efforts on Monday evening.