Melfort's power outage was caused by a downed power line (pictured), and a pole fire. (Angie Rolheiser/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Power Outages

Over 2,000 customers in Melfort, Humboldt affected by Thursday power outages

Jun 10, 2021 | 3:04 PM

A couple of power outages in the northeast region on Thursday, June 10.

In Humboldt, SaskPower started receiving calls of partial outages around 10:25 a.m., followed by calls about a full outage, according to SaskPower’s Scott McGregor.

“Faulty equipment at one of our transformers that had just failed,” he said. “So we sent crews out to address the issues, and around 12:15 p.m. we were able to get everything back on.”

McGregor said the equipment was aging and it had run its course. About 475 customers were affected by that outage.

Later in the day, customers in Melfort were without power, starting around 11 a.m.

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“We experienced a pole fire in the Melfort area, as well as a downed, three-phase power line,” McGregor said. “So, that knocked out power to about 1,750 customers.”

McGregor said in the spring, pole fires are common as the sand and salt that is used on the roads can blow onto the power poles and the buildup of contaminants creates a path for electricity to travel onto the pole and start a fire.

He added that it was an odd situation when two different lines were affected at the same time.

Customers in Melfort were expected to get power back by around 2:30 p.m., but McGregor said if that is not the case, call 306-310-2220.

McGregor also reminds people that if they see a pole fire, or a downed line, to stay at least 10 metres back and call SaskPower.

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mat.barrett@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @matbarrett6