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Fernie power outage affects thousands

Update: A failed lightning arrester identified as cause of today's power outage that resulted in power loss for 2798 residences.

A failed lightning arrester was identified as the cause for a power outage in Fernie. The arrester is currently being repaired and the circuit is back on.

According to Community Relations Manager with BC Hydro Diane Tammen, five employees were deployed in Fernie to investigate.

"A lightning arrester is put in place so that if lightning is in the area, hopefully it strikes the arrester and protects the system," explained Tammen. "The arrester has been located, it's currently being repaired and in the meantime the circuit is back on," she added.

The outage itself occurred at approximately 8:15 a.m. resulting in the loss of power for 2798 residences north of Cokato Road.