Thousands Left Without Power After Collision

Thousands Left Without Power After Collision

Friday, November 09, 2007 at 18:55

The Mounties say alcohol was a factor in a single vehicle crash that knocked out power to thousands in northeast Saskatchewan for several hours overnight.

The outage affected several communities – including Weyakwin, La Ronge, Grandmother’s Bay, Stanley Mission, Sucker River and Southend.

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Brad Kaeding says the blackout began sometime before 11:00 last night when a vehicle plowed into a power pole on Highway 2 just north of Weyakwin.

Kaeding says the unidentified male driver was arrested, and is facing several charges.

He also says the suspect was impaired at the time.

It was just before 5:00 this morning before the lights finally came back on.

SaskPower spokesman Larry Christie says the outage took a long time to fix because crews had to replace the power pole.