'Finicky' transition to generators could mean continuous outages in Jasper: ATCO
The challenge of reconnecting residents in Jasper National Park to power after a wildfire destroyed some of town's transmission infrastructure is proving "increasingly evident," the mayor says.
Thursday marked the third day ATCO was trying to deliver on a promise of bringing the town of about 5,000 people onto generators.
For a brief period in the morning, two thirds of the town was re-energized. Then power was lost again.
"The complexity of integrating generator power into a utility system to a community of this size and scale is extremely challenging," commented ATCO regional manager Amanda Mattern Thursday morning.
She called the system "finicky" in terms of receiving additional segments of load.
"The biggest challenge we're seeing… is bringing in that equipment from various vendors and getting all those controls to communicate with each other without tripping the system. Yes, that involves bringing on additional load, that involves fuelling up the generation, and all of that takes a lot of coordination and that's where we've been seeing the interruptions."
Mayor Richard Ireland described the situation as "precarious."
Some residents, as of noon on Thursday, had been without power for 80 hours.
Without reliable power from ATCO, the town was resorting to using its own back-up generators to operate its wastewater treatment plant.
"Jasper residents and businesses have demonstrated remarkable adaptability, resilience, good will, kindness, and calmness in the face of the present calamity," Ireland said. "But even as parts of the town become re-energized, those admirable characteristics must continue.
"We are far from over this emergency."
Mattern said more outages were likely given the unreliability of generators.
FIRE ACTIVITY EXPECTED TO PICK UP
As temperatures and wind increase, so, too, does the threat of Chetamon Wildfire.
Wind made direct fire suppression too dangerous for firefighters on the ground and in the air on Wednesday. According to Environment Canada data, the town stayed in the low 20s C throughout the afternoon while wind speeds went from 5 km/h in the morning to 13 km/h by 1 p.m.
The conditions resulted in an increase in fire activity on the north, south and middle portions of the blaze, which is about 15 kilometres from the Jasper townsite.
But overnight, its size held at an estimated 5,500 hectares, Parks Canada said.
During the higher winds on Wednesday, firefighters worked on indirect attack methods on the southern and eastern fronts to protect the CN rail corridor and more parts of ATCO's power line.
As well, provincial air tankers dropped retardant on Wednesday – the first opportunity officials said it had been safe to do so.
Fire officials expect the wildfire to grow in the coming days without any precipitation.
"If the wildfire area does not receive significant rain, further damage to the power supply infrastructure remains a possibility, as is a potential wildfire threat to the community," Ireland noted.
However, no communities were considered at risk on Thursday.
So far, ATCO has been able to confirm 18 power poles have been burned down. The company was going to attempt to finish its assessment of the transmission line on Thursday.
All frontcountry campgrounds in Jasper National Park are closed and the park has stopped issuing new backcountry permits.
Both Ireland and park officials are discouraging people from visiting, given the town's lack of power and struggle to keep critical infrastructure and businesses operating.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.