Wildfire disrupts Snare hydro transmission lines to Yellowknife

A city-wide power outage in Yellowknife this afternoon was caused by a wildfire affecting transmission lines from the Snare hydro system.

N.W.T. Power Corporation spokespersonPam Coulter said the fire disruptedthe hydro line somewhere south of the Snare hydro station.

Power transmission could be disrupted by the lines being shorted out by gas emitted from the fire or by the lines burning. Shesaid the smoke is too thick to determine where the disruption occurred and what kind of damage, if any, the line suffered.

• Fire near Snare hydro system out of control, no longer being fought

An equipment failure at Yellowknife'sJackfishLake diesel back-up plant caused a second power outage shortly after, Coulter said.Generators had to be restarted as a result.

The power corporation is urging people to conserve power until the link to the Snare system is restored. Coulter did not know how long that would take.

In the meantime, Yellowknife is relying on diesel power fromJackfish Lakeand hydro power from the small Bluefish hydro plant.

She says government fire crews are working on the blaze.