More than 100,000 customers in northern B.C. were without power Wednesday night due to a transmission circuit failure caused by a suspected lightning strike, according to BC Hydro.
The power went out at 8:54 p.m. impacting communities south, north and west of Prince George, including Mackenzie, Vanderhoof, Smithers, Fort St John, Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Hudsons Hope, Terrace, Houston and Burns Lake.
Crews began restoration efforts across the region right away, working to restore all customers in the next few hours. The utility company said power had been restored in Prince George at about 10:30 p.m. and most customers could expect theirs back by 12:30 a.m.
Dispatch at Prince George RCMP confirmed there was some sort of explosion in Prince George, however, fire crews say they were not connected.
Prince George Fire Rescue Services confirm that there are no local fires connected to tonight’s power outage
— Prince George, BC (@CityofPG) September 12, 2019
As of 9:40 p.m. there were 72 outages recorded in northern B.C. effecting 78,952 customers and 37 recorded in central Interior B.C. affecting a further 43,542.
Customers in Williams Lake and Cache Creek reported on social media they saw their lights flicker or dim around 9 p.m.
– with files from Brittany Gervais
Jenna Cocullo | Journalist
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