Update: Excavator strikes propane main, leading to evacuations and power cut in Revelstoke

Update: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 11:50 a.m.

Propane service remains offline in several neighbourhoods downstream of the gas main break yesterday, including lower town, Big Eddy and Columbia Park.

FortisBC provided the following three-paragraph update mid morning on Wednesday:

“Our crews are working safely and as quickly as possible to restore propane service to customers who lost service as a result of third-party damage to our system at 603 Mackenzie Ave.

“Restoring service to customers is a priority. FortisBC crews have completed repairs but, prior to regasifying our main line, our technicians are shutting off all affected meters as a safety precaution. Once all meters are shut off, we will regasify the main and start relights. We have brought in extra technicians to restore customers’ service more quickly and they will visit each affected home or building to restore propane service at the meter and relight all affected appliances.

“We anticipate relights will begin this afternoon, throughout Thursday and possibly into Friday. We recognize this loss of service is disruptive for our Revelstoke customers and are doing everything we can to restore service quickly and safely.”

Update: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 9:55 a.m.

A FortisBC spokesperson provided an update Wednesday morning. She said the number of customers affected is still at 900.

Late update: Tuesday, Oct. 22 11:45 p.m.

In an email sent around 10:15, a FortisBC spokesperson said: “Our crews completed repairs this evening and they will begin to relight customer’s affected appliances tomorrow morning.”

FortisBC also confirmed a gas main had been struck by an excavator, adding the machine that struck the line was not theirs.

This has led to outages. FortisBC continues to use the term “900 customers” since the incident, a big number of people for a small city like ours. As always, safety first. Fortis has said crews will come to affected homes to relight.

FortisBC has a webpage dedicated to the ongoing Revelstoke gas outage situation. Here is the FortisBC dedicated page link. Ongoing, that webpage will likely have the most up to date text updates.

Area residents with questions can contact FortisBC at 1-877-711-8877.

Sorry, but we likely won’t be doing many updates or follow up tomorrow due to commitments. Once everything is settled down, service is back to normal and all’s clear, it will be interesting to follow up. I smelled the gas near city hall, and others smelled it several blocks away in another direction. Yikes!

You can also find FortisBC social media links here:

Our crews are onsite repairing damage to a propane line in #RevelstokeBC caused by a third party. We appreciate the public’s patience while we work on repairs. For updates visit our service alert: https://t.co/sFxwOIvgRG

— FortisBC (@FortisBC) October 23, 2019

Original story

A propane leak in the area of Mackenzie Avenue and Fifth Street has led to a power cut in parts of Revelstoke.

A Fortis employee at work during the outage. The excavation that caused the gas line break, leading to the intentional electrical outage, can be seen at the end of the alleyway. Photo: Aaron Orlando

A BC Hydro employee on the scene said the power had been cut due to a gas leak.

A sour gas smell was perceptible in the area and even a few blocks away near city hall.

The source of the gas leak is a construction site in the 100 block of Fifth Street West. A large excavating machine was digging in the ground and struck the propane pipe. The machine was stopped nearby a large pile of dirt it had just excavated.

At centre left, Fortis staff work on a location about 50 metres from the original leak in an attempt to cut off gas to the leaking propane main, which had been struck by an excavator. Photo: Aaron Orlando

The Revelstoke Community & Aquatic Centre was evacuated as a precaution.

Firefighters blocked off several blocks around the area of the gas

Fortis staff could be seen excavating a new hole about 50 metres away from the broken pipe in an effort to cut gas to the leaking pipe.

Rupture disrupts gas service

FortisBC spokesperson Lauren Lea said that about 900 customers in the downtown and Big Eddy areas have been affected by the propane outage.

“Our crews are assessing the damage and working to determine the best way to stop the leak caused by the damage. They will then determine the best way to complete repairs,” Lea said in a statement.

Lea said that Fortis is focused on assessing the damage and “will then determine the best way to complete repairs.”

She said that a FortisBC crew member will visit each affected home or building to restore gas service at the meter and “relight all affected appliances.”

Lea said the gas utility’s crews would be working late and into the morning on Wednesday. “If necessary, crews will return to the area tomorrow morning to complete the restoration for homes where tags were placed as a result of residents not being home,” she said.