In what BC Hydro officials are describing as "a strange coincidence," thousands of South Surrey residents and businesses were without power two nights in a row this week, for two entirely different reasons.
Monday, a 9:30 p.m. crash near 160 Street and 26 Avenue left 2,584 BC Hydro customers in the dark. Surrey RCMP Sgt. Drew Grainger said he could not comment on the incident as it was not attended by police.
The area affected by the power outage was bounded by 152 Street on the west, 176 Street on the east, 20 Avenue on the south and 32 Avenue on the north. Power was restored four hours later.
A fault in an underground cable is being blamed for the second outage, which began at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday and lasted until 11:20 p.m. That outage affected a wider group – totalling 4,288 customers, including the 2,584 affected the night before – within an area bounded by King George Boulevard, 26 Avenue, 180 Street and 48 Avenue.
BC Hydro spokesperson Jennifer Young described the consecutive outages as "just a strange coincidence."
"It is certainly odd," Young said. "We really appreciate customers' patience."