From birds and beavers to fishing lines and cicadas, here are a few of the year’s most memorable incidents:
- In December, three major storms swept across B.C. The last one even sent a giant inflatable Godzilla flying into BC Hydro lines at a car dealership in Nanaimo, prompting a trouble call to safely remove it.
- In May, a group of neighbourhood kids in Sidney practicing their casting skills accidentally hooked power lines, causing an outage for one customer. Crews removed two fishing lures and lines before restoring service.
- In May, a BC Hydro customer in Kelowna reported an alarming buzzing sound, fearing a line issue. The culprit? Cicadas. No repairs needed, just a reminder that nature can be noisy.
- In July, an osprey in Ashcroft dropped a fish onto a power line, sparking a small grass fire that led to an outage for 943 customers. Fire crews, BC Hydro workers and local ranchers worked together to extinguish the blaze using 4,800 gallons of water.
- In July, a beaver in Horsefly brought down a large tree across multiple spans of wire, including a river crossing. Crews worked through challenging conditions to restore power for 375 affected customers.
- In July, a crow in Delta collided with a transformer, knocking out an entire feeder and leaving 4,636 customers without power. Crews patrolled the circuit and restored service.
- In August another osprey, this time in Quesnel, dropped a fish into BC Hydro power lines, resulting in six customer outages and necessitating a pole replacement.
BC Hydro urges you to always keep at least three metres, about the length of a four-door car, between yourself, tools, and power lines. If you see a downed or damaged line, stay back at least 10 metres, the length of a city bus, and call 9-1-1.