A widespread power outage made a dark day in the Flathead only darker when over 10,000 people across the valley lost power on Tuesday.
The outage started around noon and about four hours later almost everyone was back online. Flathead Electric Cooperative reports that the outage happened when a clamp that held wires tight came off.That made a main line fall on a distribution line by Home Depot in Kalispell.
Those lines powered many substations, causing outages from Marion to Lakeside to Big Mountain to West Glacier.
Law enforcement agencies and area fire departments quickly closed off Reserve Drive and directed traffic at several backed up intersections.
West Valley Fire Chief Rodney Dresbach says the widespread power outage could have happened at an even worse time.
"We're lucky it didn't happen like 48 hours from now or 72 hours from now, on either Black Friday or during Thanksgiving, during when everyone's got their turkey in the oven."
Flathead Electric Co-op officials say that they appreciate how quickly the fire departments set up a perimeter around the downed power line.
(first report, November 24, 2009 mid-day) Several thousand Flathead Valley residents are in the dark at this hour due to a problem with a transmission line in Kalispell.
Flathead Electric Cooperative reports that as of 1:00 around 7,000 customers were still without power, down from a peak outage of around 10,000 customers.
A large portion of the northern end of Kalispell is being effected by the power problem, with outages being reported from Marion to Lakeside to Big Mountain to the West Glacier area.
The power went out at around noon, and there's no word yet on what caused the problem, although a press release from the Flathead County Sheriff's Department reports that a "major power line" came down on West Reserve north of Home Depot.
Most area traffic lights are also not in service and police are advising anyone who comes on a darkened intersection to treat it as a 4-way stop.
FEC crews are currently working to re-route power in order to get the lights back on as soon as possible. They are working on the high priority areas first, such as around KRMC and the airport.
In addition, many folks trying to watch KAJ with an over the air signal are not being able to see us at this time due to the power outage.
- Mark Thorsell reporting from KPAX in Missoula
