SURREY — Four high-voltage transmission poles in the Green Timbers area were cut down around 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, BC Hydro says.
The corporation is “extremely concerned about this dangerous act of vandalism,” which appears to have been done with a chainsaw.
The vandalism resulted in a power outage for 6,000 customers in Whalley.
In addition to the transmission line carrying 60,000 volts, these poles carry two sets of high-voltage distribution circuits, each carrying 25,000 volts.
“This could have injured or killed a member of the public or our crews as BC Hydro worked to make repairs,” stated a release.
Crews in #SurreyBC had to make repairs last night after vandals cut down 4 power poles with a chainsaw 1/2 pic.twitter.com/eoZgeZEi1L
— BC Hydro (@bchydro) April 13, 2016
Crews made the area safe and restored power to the majority of customers around 4 a.m., according to BC Hydro, and customers were switched to a different distribution circuit as extensive repairs are required.
More than a dozen individuals are working on the repairs, which involve crews replacing the damaged poles and transferring the conductors and circuits to the new poles. This work should be completed later today, says BC Hydro.
RCMP are involved in investigating the incident.