In the hours following the Evacuation Order for the Bald Range Wildfire, Summerland’s Electrical Utility faced an enormous challenge: safely restoring power across a community affected by widespread wildfire damage, while crews continued to work around active fire, danger trees, damaged infrastructure and restricted access.

During the initial wildfire response, 𝐁𝐂 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬. This resulted in a widespread outage while the fire response was underway. Through the night and into the morning of Aug 8, Summerland’s Electrical Utility began the careful process of safely re-energizing the system while also identifying and rebuilding sections of powerline that had been damaged by the wildfire. All while the fire continued to burn power poles and structures in town.

Restoring power was not simply a matter of turning the system back on. Crews had to determine which portions of the electrical system could be safely re-energized and which had suffered physical wildfire damage and required repair or complete reconstruction. The progress was remarkable.

By the 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟗, 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝟖𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝’𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝. At the same time, Summerland was preparing for the much more difficult work ahead.

On the morning of 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟖, Summerland’s Director of Utilities reached out to his colleagues and utility leaders in 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐧, 𝐍𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫, advising them of the widespread structure losses and that additional resources would likely be required in the coming days. Penticton quickly responded with crews arriving Aug 9 and providing valuable night shift duties after Summerland Powerline Technicians worked through the nights in the initial response. Nelson Hydro arrived shortly after followed by New Westminster. These brave communities sent nearly their full complement of powerline resources leaving their own communities vulnerable in order to help Summerland.

On 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟏𝟏, another major milestone had been reached. Bringing the total to 𝟗𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝. Crews immediately moved on to the next areas

As the restoration pushed farther into the fire-affected areas, the work became increasingly difficult. The Summerland Utility Director was imbedded at BC Wildfire Incident Command for safety briefings identify hazards including danger trees, lingering ground fire, BCWF back burn targets and natural gas line ignitions. Access to some areas remained restricted, and electrical crews had to coordinate closely with BC Wildfire and other responding agencies. The remaining work increasingly involved rebuilding rather than simply re-energizing. Behind those powerline crews was an equally important support effort.

Summerland Works crews and contractors cleared danger trees and vegetation so electrical crews could safely move forward. Millar Tree Service and its subcontractors supported danger-tree and powerline clearing work. BC Hydro provided material, and utility staff coordinated equipment, poles, materials, road access, traffic control, brushing and job planning while restoration continued.

By the end of 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎, approximately 𝟗𝟖% 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝’𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝.

Behind those numbers are thousands of homes and businesses reconnected, electrical infrastructure inspected and repaired, trees and debris cleared, poles and lines rebuilt, materials delivered and countless hours of planning and coordination

Crews are continuing to work to restore the remaining 2% of electric utility customers. Thank you for helping get Summerland’s lights back on