Power has been restored for more than 26,000 customers after a brief outage in Parksville and Qualicum Beach.
The outage was due to a transmission circuit failure caused by a downed power line near Qualicum Beach.
BC Hydro spokesman Ted Olynyk said just after 12 p.m., crews received reports of a downed power line. Close to 27,000 customers lost power in Nanoose Bay, Parksville, Qualicum Beach and Fanny Bay.
The dots showing the power outage areas in Parksville and Qualicum Beach. (BC Hydro)
Olynk said power was restored quickly as crews were working on another transmission line in the area. Crews were able to stop maintenance on the line and use it to restore power.
“That’s why we were able to restore customers so quickly,” Olynyk said.
Just after 1:30 p.m., power was back on for all those customers.
The fallen power line also caused a wildfire. Firefighters from the Coastal Fire Centre got the fire under control quickly and are still working on putting out hot spots from the 0.18 hectare fire.
This is near #QualicumBeach where the transmission line came down today causing the power outage in Oceanside and a fire. Coastal Fire Centre has a crew here putting the fire out as Hydro workers fix the transmission line @CHEK_News #parksville pic.twitter.com/mPCVckIR8z
— Kendall Hanson (@Kendall_Hanson) September 5, 2019
Olynyk said they are still looking into what caused the downed power line.
To see current outage areas, visit the BC Hydro website.
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