Monday marked the first day of winter and the season made sure to make an entrance in Ridge Meadows.
After working several hours to restore power to impacted areas across the province BC Hydro crews provided an update just before 10:30 p.m. on Monday informing customers of several communities – including Maple Ridge – that they would be left without power overnight “as crews work around the clock on repairs.”
“Due to the extensive damage and difficult conditions, BC Hydro expects that some customers may be out for a second night,” the utility company warns.
As of 11:30 a.m. Tuesday BC Hydro said they had restored power to about 190,000 customers of the 223,000 customers across the province who were impacted.
READ MORE: First snowfall in Maple Ridge
But about 15,900 customer in the Lower Mainland remain without power, primarily in Maple Ridge and Surrey, according to BC Hydro.
Meanwhile, fire crews in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows have also been working around the clock.
Over the last 24 hours the Pitt Meadows fire department received six calls, while Maple Ridge crews responded to 50 – a higher than average call volume for both communities.
“The worst one was on 203rd in Pitt Meadows, where a tree came down across the road and we had to close the road for a while,” said Brad Perrie, deputy fire chief with Pitt Meadows.
“It’s been a busy 24 hours,” he added.
In Maple Ridge, Ridge Meadows RCMP issued a public alert just after 9:30 p.m Monday that a section of Dewdney Trunk Road would be closed at Rothsay Street due to “multiple” fallen trees and power outages.
Dewdney Trunk road is closed between Rothsay and 273rd due to multiple trees down and power outages. Crews are on scene but please plan alternate route. pic.twitter.com/UIvdKw2GbK
— Ridge Meadows RCMP (@RidgeRCMP) December 22, 2020
Maple Ridge deputy fire chief Michael Van Dop said calls related to the winter storm required all crews across the department to respond, but said they were “able to keep on top of it.”
The aftermath on Tuesday continued to keep crews occupied.
“There’s still a lot of wires down in the community,” Van Dop said.
As of noon Tuesday BC Hydro still had 19 different outages listed in the Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows areas.
“Be careful around downed power lines, do not approach them,” Van Dop said. “Report them to BC Hydro or the fire department if it’s an emergency.”
For updates on power outages visit BC Hydro at bchydro.com/safety-outages/power-outages.html.
@JotiGrewal_
joti.grewal@blackpress.ca
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