Equipment failure, vehicle crash causes over 4,000 to lose power in Fort St. John

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Two power outages in Fort St. John, affecting over 4,000 BC Hydro customers for several hours on Sunday, were caused by equipment failure and a motor vehicle incident.

According to the Fort St. John RCMP, a tanker truck struck a power pole on the Chevron Frontage Road on January 28th at 4:38 a.m., causing the first outage. Police said the power pole had been sheered off and came to rest on top of the truck.

Mike Kellett with BC Hydro said the broken power pole needed to be replaced due to the crash.

With assistance from firefighters and BC Hydro, the driver exited the vehicle safely, and no injuries were reported.

Police said slippery road conditions were considered a significant factor in the crash.

According to BC Hydro, 1,699 customers were affected by the outage, which wasn’t restored until 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Kellett said the second outage on January 28th was due to two power lines needing to be replaced on Alaska Road near 112th Street and the Alaska Highway.

Power was out for 2,552 customers starting at 5 a.m. Kellet said fixing the issue took five technicians until just after 2 p.m., and power was restored at 2:30 p.m.