Wildfire disrupts Snare hydro transmission lines to Yellowknife
City on backup diesel generation, residents urged to conserve power
A city-wide power outage in Yellowknife this afternoon was caused by a wildfire affecting transmission lines from the Snare hydro system.
N.W.T. Power Corporation spokesperson Pam Coulter said the fire disrupted the hydro line somewhere south of the Snare hydro station.
Power transmission could be disrupted by the lines being shorted out by gas emitted from the fire or by the lines burning. She said the smoke is too thick to determine where the disruption occurred and what kind of damage, if any, the line suffered.
An equipment failure at Yellowknife's Jackfish Lake diesel back-up plant caused a second power outage shortly after, Coulter said. Generators had to be restarted as a result.
The power corporation is urging people to conserve power until the link to the Snare system is restored. Coulter did not know how long that would take.
In the meantime, Yellowknife is relying on diesel power from Jackfish Lake and hydro power from the small Bluefish hydro plant.
She says government fire crews are working on the blaze.
Corrections
- A previous version of this story stated a wildfire had burned power transmission lines to Yellowknife. In fact, the N.W.T. Power Corporation has not been able to determine if the lines have been damaged.Jul 28, 2016 5:25 PM CT