Fortis B.C. crews are busy working to restore service to 1,200 customers following a major gas line leak Nov. 20.
(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)
November 21, 2014 - 1:39 PM
LUMBY - The Lumby community is coming together after a major natural gas leak cut service to 1,200 residences.
The high-pressure gas line was ruptured in Lavington Thursday morning after a vehicle crashed into it. Fortis B.C. immediately began shutting off customer’s natural gas while crews conducted repairs. The affected line serviced customers primarily in the Lumby, Whitevale, Highway 6 and Mabel Lake Road areas.
Fortis hopes to have service back on for all customers by Saturday night. In the meantime, acting Lumby mayor Lori Mindnich says a heating room has been set up at the White Valley Community Hall for residents who are concerned for their safety.
“So far, no has had to use it,” Mindnich says. “Everybody is staying home, staying warm, and keeping the heat in.”
In Mindnich’s many years living in Lumby, she’s never seen the village experience such a large scale service outage. But residents have been stepping up to help their neighbours, bringing space heaters to the community hall and offering to donate food.
“That’s the best thing about Lumby, we stick together,” Mindnich says. “It’s a great community.”
Fortis has brought in extra technicians to restore service as quickly as possible.
“They’re doing everything they can to get this done and fixed. They basically doubled their work force,” Mindnich says.
Fortis will have to visit each household to restore power and reignite the pilot lights. If you need a warm place to stay during the day or overnight, the White Valley Community Hall is located at 2250 Shields Avenue. Residents can access the heating room by calling 250-547-2171 or 250-547-2160.
Mindnich encourages residents to keep in touch with their neighbours and continue lending a hand where help is needed. Two local schools were closed Friday while Fortis crews conducted repairs.
Fortis B.C. is posting updates on its website, and on Twitter, @FortisBC. Area residents with questions can also contact Fortis at 1-877-711-8877.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014