Tri Community leaders from left, Chief Tammy Cook-Searson, and Mayors Colin Ratushniak and Julie Baschuk, photographed at the Mel Hegland Uniplex in La Ronge. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

powerless

‘A huge failure of the system’: frustration at lengthy power outage

May 20, 2021 | 4:03 PM

UPDATE: Later Thursday night SaskPower issued a tweet saying they had successfully restored power to all known customers impacted by the fire.

As the Tri Communities (La Ronge, Lac La Ronge Indian Band, and Air Ronge) hope for a full restoration of power by 8 p.m. Thursday night, there are frustrations about the vulnerable infrastructure that provides them with critical energy.

There’s an irony that while the dangerous and large wildfire was on Prince Albert’s northeastern edge there was no loss of power in P.A., yet rural communities to the immediate north and as far as 330 kilometers away have been without power for days. Temperatures in La Ronge fell to -6 Celsius Wednesday night and the northern communities are under a State of Emergency to ensure vital access to warmth, shelter, food and standby power is being offered. That situation remained in effect Thursday afternoon.

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“The biggest thing people don’t understand is we’re in the North so we’re still dipping well-below zero [degrees]. I mean today we’re at 1 C ”, La Ronge mayor Colin Ratushniak told paNOW and larongeNOW. “So when you consider house temperatures are below a suitable level for people to stay warm, that’s critical.”

There was noticeable frustration from Ratushniak when he noted the community was into a fourth day without electricity and people could not turn on their home heating.

“I would call this critical and a huge disaster—not necessarily for SaskPower because they’re doing a really good job of trying to fix things—but moving forward, we need to look at the infrastructure of the North and have alternatives to re-route power or at least have backup generators at some point…because for me it’s just a huge failure in the system,” he said.

He noted the added irony that La Ronge airport was being used as part of the firefighting efforts in P.A. and yet there was no power to local residents.

Chief Tammy Cook-Searson with the Lac La Ronge Indian Band echoed the concerns.

“We’ll have a debriefing with our council because we have the same concerns too. We’re really reliant on one power line and one power source coming into our community”, she said. “We did talk to SaskPower and ask them if there is any way they can divert power from another source.”

Cook-Searson said they’ve dealt with outages before and they have generator back ups on key infrastructure like sewer and water, and the local hospital, but “going forward, we definitely have to work something out with SaskPower.”

In the meantime, Cook-Searson said while no one needed to access the temporary emergency shelter Wednesday night at the Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre (JRMCC), three people were taken in at the one set up at the Mel Hegland Arena. Also, 11 people were accommodated at a temporary shelter at Sucker River.

Temporary emergency shelter at the Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre, also known as the JR Hall.(Derek Cornet/larongeNOW)

Cook-Searson explained there had been a great coming together of the communities to help one another out and that included more remote places. Blankets and propane were being delivered to Grandmother’s Bay, for example.

The Tri Communities were still offering ice, blankets, baby supplies and mobile generator time Thursday as they awaited word on the return of power.

EOC Tri Communities (Facebook)

Communication challenges

For the entire region, the lengthy outage has been a major inconvenience, not only for loss of heat and defrosting freezers. Staying in touch and keeping a cell phone charged has been a big challenge.

Like many others, Deanna Belhumeur was running her vehicle engine just so she could plug her cell phone in and charge it. Later, she ran a power cord from the vehicle into her home.

Like many others, Deanna Belhumeur was making frequent trips to her vehicle to charge her phone through the USB port. Then she ran a power cable from her vehicle to her home. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW)

There has been important reaching out among the community too. Belhumeur said she started cooking food from her defrosting freezer so it wouldn’t go to waste.

“Some of the food has gone into coolers. The first day [of the outage] I went to neighbours and we cooked on the fire, then the next day was warmer during the day so we did outdoor cooking with some pre-made meals I had,” she said.

“I’m creative, but luckily it’s only me to look after. I’m worried about families with little children and stuff,” she said.

By mid-Thursday afternoon SaskPower said it anticipated bringing customers back online between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The agency asked those who are running generators to shut them off before they restore power. This is for their own safety and to prevent feedback to the lines.

Find out more about generators and how to prepare your home for unplanned outages.

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glenn.hicks@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertNOW