Early this morning a serious fire at the Corporation's Fort McPherson
plant was reported.
The community is without power, except those buildings
with emergency back up generators, and first reports say that the
plant building has been destroyed and that all operating equipment
has been severely damaged.
Crews from Inuvik along with an emergency
generating unit have now arrived in the community. This crew with
the assistance of staff from other regions have now assessed the situation
and an emergency recovery plan is now being fully implemented.
The
first emergency generator has now been installed. The school which
is being used as an emergency centre, is now being supplied with
power and the next stage is to supply other areas of the community
as capacity allows. Power supply to these areas will be on a rotational
basis of 30 to 60 minute. Customers are urged to conserve power as
much as they can.
A second emergency generator has been taken out of
Fort Resolution by the Corporation and is being transported first
to Inuvik by Hercules and then by road to Fort McPherson . It is anticipated
that this generator will reach Fort McPherson in the early hours
of Tuesday morning and should be operating by around 5.00am . The Corporation
has 13 staff on site involved in this operation and two more personnel
will be accompanying the second emergency generator.
The cause of
the fire has not yet been established and no injuries have been incurred.
Corporation staff are working closely with the local and territorial
Emergency Measures Organization and the local leadership to keep
residents and businesses informed of the situation.
Every effort is
being made to restore power as quickly as possible and to ensure
a high level of safety is maintained in the community.
For more information contact:
Peter Watt
Marketing & Communications Officer
Office: (867) 874 5207
Cell: (867) 874 1288
Brian Willows
Regional Director, Delta-Sahtu
Office: (867) 777-7711
