Squirrels and beavers and bears, oh my: BC Hydro lists year’s strangest power outages

With 2020 coming to an end, BC Hydro released a list of some of its most memorable calls for service during what has proven to be a busy year.

Some of the most unusual calls involved animals.

In Dawson Creek and Prince George, large branches from dams built by ever-industrious beavers fell into power lines, leading to more than 700 customer outages. In Nanaimo and Langley, squirrels chewed through wires, leaving 8,000 customers without power. A bear outside of Nakusp climbed a cherry tree in search of a snack, leading to branches falling onto electrical equipment.

Other outages were human-caused.

Helium balloons came loose during a birthday celebration in Vernon and flew into overhead wires, leaving 120 homes without power. Similarly, in both Hope and Vernon, a kite broke free from its owner’s grasp, causing outages that affected 2,000 customers. In East Vancouver, a plant thrown out of a window hit electrical equipment, leaving 69 customers without power.

BC Hydro said customers should watch for power lines in the area and weigh down items that could get caught up in gusts of wind.