A fire north of Oliver that knocked out power for some residents was caused by a bird.
The Oliver Fire Department responded to a grass fire around a power pole north of Oliver at around 7 a.m.
According to the OFD, there were reports from the person who called in the fire that there had been an explosion shortly before the fire started.
After arriving and extinguishing the blaze, an investigation found that the fire appeared to have been started by a bird that had caused a short circuit with the power lines.
“These types of events are not uncommon,” reads the OFD’s post about the fire to Facebook. “We have had several grass fires, in the recent past, started in this manner.”
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The fire department handed over the scene to FortisBC to handle any repairs to the power lines.
According to the FortisBC outage map, 54 properties are currently still without power.
Shortly after the fire started, thousands of residents as far as Twin Lakes and Okanagan Falls had lost power.
A time when power will be fully restored has not been given.
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