UPDATE: Kamloops crews knock down small fire caused by lightning

KAMLOOPS – A section of south Kamloops is without power after a storm passed through the area.

According to B.C. Hydro, crews are on scene to determine the cause of the outage in the Mission Flats Road area. B.C. Hydro's website indicates the power went out around 2:30 p.m. today, Sept. 18.

This is around the same time there was lightning reported in the area, near the Domtar smoke stack. Kamloops Fire Rescue Capt. Kris Krutop says crews extinguished a small fire in the area that started from the lightning, but their job isn't done yet.

"We’ve been chasing lightning strikes in the Kenna Cartwright and Mission Flats areas," Krutop says. "We’re just getting flooded with calls of lightning strikes."

Crews are also investigating reports of lightning strikes behind Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre, toward the dump off Mission Flats Road.

Domtar has not yet responded to a request for comment on whether or not operations are being affected.

The power was originally out for over 780 B.C. Hydro customers in the area south of Ord Road, west of Schubert Drive and east of Mission Flats Road. Now only 33 customers in the Mission Flats Road area are without power.

According to Hydro, the cause of the outage is confirmed to be lightning and power is expected to be restored around 6 p.m.

Traffic was briefly affected on Mission Flats Road due to railway gates being shut down during the outage. CP Rail spokesperson Jeremy Berry said rail crews responded to a lightning-caused crossing malfunction and remain on scene.

— This story was updated at 3:44 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18, 2017 to update the number of B.C. Hydro customers affected by the outage.

— This story was updated at 4:37 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18, 2017 to add new information from Kamloops Fire Rescue, B.C. Hydro and CP Rail.

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