One might not think wet weather would trigger fires, but that’s exactly what happened Tuesday in neighbourhoods across Edmonton.
Thousands of homes and businesses were left in the dreary, rainy dark at some point because of power outages caused by power poles catching on fire.
“Pole fires are common after a period without much rain or moisture,” an EPCOR spokesperson said in a statement.
The City of Edmonton-owned utility company said this can result in the buildup of debris like sand or dirt on power pole insulators, which hold power lines on the cross arms of power poles.
“If weather brings a mist, rain or snow, moisture can coat the insulator and mix with the debris, creating a path for electrical current around the insulator and directly onto the power pole.
“This can cause a fire and lead to a power outage.”
As of around 4:30 Tuesday, EPCOR said crews had responded to five such pole fires.
At one point in the early afternoon, EPCOR reported several thousand properties were affected in the city’s northeast.
Some of the area affected on the north side included Belvedere, Clareview Town Centre, Kennedale Industrial, Glengarry and Killarney.
To the northwest, the power went out in the Alberta Park Industrial, Carleton Square Industrial, Garside Industrial, Hawin Park Estate Industrial and Norwester Industrial.
A few hundred EPCOR customers were affected in Glenora in the late afternoon, and about 800 were without power for about an hour earlier in the day in Allendale, Empire Park, Pleasantview and along a stretch of Calgary Trail in south Edmonton.
The extent of repairs varies based on the scale of the damage and only sometimes requires the immediate replacement of the entire pole, EPCOR said.
“Often, crews can perform a temporary fix and restore power for customers faster. Service was restored quickly in the majority of these instances, although approximately 450 customers in northeast Edmonton remain without power now as repairs there continue,” EPCOR said.
To see the latest power outages in Edmonton, visit EPCOR’s website.
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