It’ll be some time before BC Hydro knows how much oil spilled into the environment following a fire at one of its substations near Chilliwack.
The transformer fire broke out just after 9:00 a.m. Friday at the Atchelitz substation, knocking out power to approximately 50,000 BC Hydro customers. Thick, black smoke billowed from the scene, forcing health officials to advise residents to stay indoors.
The cause of the fire has not been determined. Twelve employees were onsite at the time and four of them were transported to hospital as a precautionary assessment. They returned to work later in the day.
BC Hydro says an intensive clean-up operation is underway because the damaged transformer held approximately 115,000 litres of insulating oil.
“We don’t know at this point - it’ll be awhile before we do - how much of that was burned, how much was spilled to the environment, how much we were able to capture and reroute back into containment,” said David Lebeter, BC Hydro’s vice-president of field operations.
“Some did escape the site but it’s been contained in a ditch right outside the fire line.”
Mr. Lebeter said crews will spend the weekend building a contingency plan and charting their course forward.
He said he’s not aware of any other problems at the substation. The transformer was about 25 years old, which Mr. Lebeter said is not particularly old for that type of equipment.
Power was restored to all customers by Friday afternoon.
