Lightning takes out power to more than 120,000 customers in northern B.C.

More than 120,000 customers in northern B.C. lost their power Wednesday night, affecting communities north and west of Prince George.

BC Hydro says the outage was due to a transmission failure, possibly caused by lightning.

Affected communities include Vanderhoof, Smithers, Fort St John, Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Hudsons Hope, Houston and Burns Lake.

Prince George residents told Global News some customers there also lost power briefly.

Officials in Prince George said the outage was not due to any fires within the city.

No fires were reported at any other industrial plants or mills in the region.

Environment Canada showed lightning strikes in the Prince George area between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.

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BC Hydro says the earliest all customers could get their power back is around 12:30 p.m.

“Crews are investigating and working on implementing a restoration process,” a spokesperson said in an email.

By 10:30 p.m., roughly 40,000 customers had their power restored in some communities.

WATCH: (Sept. 8) Lightning storm rips through southern B.C.

1:15 Lightning storm rips through southern B.C.