Pukatawagan residents are coping with no power in their remote community for the second time in three months.

More than 60 hydro poles were damaged by a wildfire in July. Since then, community members have been accessing power via industrial generators.

Two of their three generators experienced “equipment issues” that caused widespread outages beginning around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, Manitoba Hydro said.

“There’s a crew on the ground there right now troubleshooting. No estimated time of restoration yet, but we’re working as quickly and safely as possible to get it restored,” said Riley McDonald, media relations officer for the utility, in an email Wednesday.

McDonald said hydro crews boarded the first available flight on Wednesday morning to fix the issue, which has affected 450 customers. Roughly one-third had regained power as of Wednesday afternoon.

The utility anticipates it will be able to replace poles damaged by the summer fire and re-energize power lines by Oct. 15, weather permitting, he said, adding crews are trimming “hazard trees” close to the line to ensure long-term reliability.

Roughly 1,700 residents live in Pukatawagan, also known as Matthias Colomb Cree Nation, located approximately 210 kilometres north of The Pas.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca