Elk Valley RCMP are investigating an incident of a downed Telus line on Highway 3 which led to a cellular and internet outage on Nov. 14.
Police received notice of an outage on Nov. 14, when they were contacted by a supervisor at Telus who reported that areas north of Hosmer, including Sparwood and Elkford, had been without cell phone or internet service for many hours.
Upon investigation, RCMP found that a Telus line on Highway 3 had received considerable damage. A fiber-optic cable had snapped and six poles, which anchored the cable, had been dragged from their mounting holes. Tension on the snapping cable had caused nearby trees to be sliced in half.
RCMP suspect that an oversized vehicle made contact with the Telus line at the point where it crosses Highway 3, but have yet to find supporting evidence.
Police reached out to businesses and corporations in the area to see if a vehicle with a large load had driven through that area in the morning. Footage from a nearby B.C Highway camera was reviewed and no vehicle large enough to do damage was observed in that area.
Additionally, the provincial government’s Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement department reported that there were no oversized loads passing through that area in the morning. There wasn’t any debris found at the site either, which could lead to the identification of the vehicle.
RCMP is currently searching for motorists who witnessed the possible collision on their morning commute and may have dash camera video or other evidence of the incident. Anyone who has information is advised to call Elk Valley RCMP at 250-425-6233 to speak with an officer, or report information anonymously through BC Crime Stoppers at 1-888-222-TIPS (8477). Callers must refer to file 2023-3683.
