Debates of January 20, 2004 (day 1)

Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring the House up to date on the serious fire that occurred at the Fort McPherson power plant on January 19th and the steps that are being taken to restore power as quickly as possible while ensuring a high level of safety is maintained.

A fire began in the Fort McPherson power plant early in the morning of January 19th causing severe damage. The corporation and its insurers are still assessing the damage and whether any of the equipment can be salvaged. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the fire marshal. Fortunately, no injuries were incurred.

The fire was reported to the corporation’s Inuvik staff at 3:30 a.m. and the corporation immediately mobilized its emergency response plan. A mobile generating unit was dispatched from Inuvik along with an emergency team of personnel from across the corporation. Partial power was restored to the community beginning at 3:00 p.m., approximately 12 hours after the fire was reported.

A second mobile unit and more personnel were chartered to Inuvik by Hercules aircraft arriving in Fort McPherson at 2:00 a.m. this morning. The crew has been working since then to get this second unit up and running. Mr. Speaker, as we speak, I understand that unit is running now.

Mr. Speaker, restoring power to the community under these emergency conditions is very much a co-operative effort. The corporation is working closely with the local EMO, community leaders and the RCMP. The people of Fort McPherson are playing a vital role in restoring power by dramatically lowering their consumption of power and by helping out in many other ways. The corporation would like to thank everyone involved for their efforts to date and for their continued support.

Mr. Speaker, while the immediate emergency is in hand, with some power restored to the community, much work remains to be done to ensure a reliable power source for the community. The corporation is closely monitoring the mobile unit and local emergency generators currently serving the community. Load will remain limited until the corporation can undertake the next step of installing additional generating capacity to ensure reliable service until the plant is restored. It is expected to take about three to four days to ensure reliable service back to the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.