FortisBC estimates 4,000 mostly rural customers in the Boundary region were without power Wednesday for hours following a major outage.
A large tree fell on a transmission line near Rossland around 3 p.m. taking out power to communities along the U.S. border east of Osoyoos on Highway 3, north on Highway 33 to Carmi, all the way to the east side of Grand Forks, according to FortisBC spokesperson Tanya Laing Gahr.
Power was restored to Christina Lake neighbourhoods around 5 p.m., with the remaining communities along the 130 km stretch of Hwy 3, and 56 km of Hwy 33, including Mt. Baldy east of Oliver, getting power back by 10 p.m.
While lengthy power outages are usually avoided by switching to a back-up line, Laing Gahr said the line they needed was unavailable due to maintenance.
The transmission line damage has also occurred on a steep, snowy hillside, making repair work more challenging according to Laing Gahr.
The outage began at Lapiti Place east of Osoyoos on Highway 3 and extended through Rock Creek, north to Carmi, Greenwood, up to Collins Road west of Grand Forks.
Outages can be checked at the FortisBC website.