Power outages, closures plague Westside Road as burned trees fall on power lines

Driving along Westside Road, the scars of the McDougall Creek Fire are still visible, and for those who live nearby, the aftermath is far from over.

Residents say many of the trees burned or damaged in the 2023 wildfire are now starting to fall, their roots weakened by the flames. Those trees have been crashing down onto power lines, leaving Wilson’s Landing and Traders Cove without electricity six times in the past month.

“The weekend of October 24th to 27th, the Wilson’s Landing and north area had power outages anywhere from 23 to 35 hours — all within a 54-hour period,” said Wilson’s Landing resident Blanche Beda.

Another resident, Bruce Ashton, says the outages have left many without basic utilities. “We don’t have natural gas where we are, Traders Cove does. Without power, we don’t have heat, we can’t run our septic systems, and we can’t pump water from the lake.”

The fallen trees have also created travel headaches, forcing multiple closures along Westside Road in recent weeks.

“If you had to go to town or got caught in town and couldn’t get back, you’re adding about two hours to your trip,” said Beda.

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After weeks of frustration, BC Hydro is stepping in.

“We’ve already done an assessment on site to identify what we feel are the most dangerous trees to our electrical system,” said Dave Cooper with BC Hydro. “We’ll have contractors on site starting tree removal.”

Crews are expected to begin work as early as next week. BC Hydro estimates roughly 600 trees could be removed over the next two to three months.

The work aims to prevent future power outages, and help residents finally move forward from a wildfire that ravaged their community.

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