Nearly 18,000 B.C. Hydro customers lost power from East Kootenay wildfires
B.C. Hydro says nearly 18,000 customers across parts of B.C.'s East Kootenay region lost power Saturday evening because of wildfire-related damage to its electrical system.
In a Sunday statement, the utility said the outage affected customers in Golden, Parson, Radium Hot Springs, Athalmer, Fairmont Hot Springs, Canal Flats and surrounding areas.
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Most customers were without power for just over a day, with service largely restored by Sunday night. But the outage came as the nearby Wait Creek wildfire forced residents from their homes.
Alex Ibbotson, who lives roughly two kilometres from where the fire began, says she and her boyfriend spotted smoke while making their usual run into town.
"We had to turn around and go back to our house so that we could get on our Wi-Fi to report the fire," Ibbotson said.
The Wait Creek fire was discovered on Aug. 1, 2026, and evacuation orders due to the fire remain in place in the East Kootenay region. (B.C Wildfire Service)
She said that by the time they returned, the fire "had already travelled a few hundred metres down the power line."
"By about 4:20 or 4:30 [p.m.], the wildfire arrived. All of us just watched the fire hit the timber on the east side of the power line," she said.
"It had gone under both sets of power lines."
As of 11:20 a.m. Tuesday, the Wait Creek wildfire covered an area roughly 13.78 square kilometres in size, burning about 25 kilometres north of Cranbrook, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS).
Outage left some stranded
Loree Duczek, an information officer with the Regional District of East Kootenay's (RDEK) emergency operations centre, said the outage happened as emergency crews were already responding to several fires and evacuations across the region.
"We had residents that were being evacuated, other residents dealing with power outages," Duczek said.
"It was just a very chaotic, dynamic and evolving situation on Saturday night."
She said the widespread outage began about two hours after wildfires broke out across the region.
"It’s the peak of tourism season here," she said.
The Wait Creek wildfire is seen from above on Aug. 3. It prompted evacuation orders and alerts. (B.C. Wildfire Service)
Duczek said some tourists could not leave because they did not have enough fuel to travel long distances, and gas pumps were not working due to the outage.
"There was no access to facilities. Restaurants and businesses had to close," she said.
Evacuation orders were also issued Saturday for communities around Ta Ta Creek and Wasa areas, about 20 kilometres south of Skookumchuk.
Duczek said the outage also put pressure on small rural water systems — because pumps could not refill reservoirs without electricity.
Residents were asked to limit non-essential water use, but Duczek said operators maintained water service throughout the outage.
In its Sunday statement, B.C. Hydro said through its restoration efforts it found that "several transmission structures will need to be replaced."
The utility said crews would work on rebuilding damaged distribution lines serving Golden and Invermere.
Those restoration efforts were completed by Sunday night and power was mostly restored, according to Duczek.
This article, written by Arden McLeod, was originally published for CBC News. With files from Amber Wang