It was a blustery weekend on the North Shore, but other than some downed branches causing power outages, it was mostly just that – bluster.
The North Shore’s three fire departments say they had relatively few calls for service stemming from the storm that blew through Saturday and Sunday.
In total, BC Hydro crews had to restore power to about 10,000 properties in North Vancouver and West Vancouver but there were few reports of serious damage as a result of the wind.
District of North Vancouver firefighters were called to assist in two cases where trees were blown down onto houses, in Lynn Valley and Blueridge, but there were no injuries, according to assistant chief Chad Laforet.
District crews also put out a fire in the trees above Skyline Drive after branches came into contact with high voltage lines and caught fire. Incidents like that are somewhat common during high winds, Laforet said.
Be extra careful of down powerlines during a windstorm. Firefighters dealt with this fire earlier that was the result of a tree on a line pic.twitter.com/CGzMVk3pNx
— DistNorthVanFF's (@DNorthVanFire) January 21, 2018
“It was busy but really, considering what they were forecasting, nothing that wasn’t typically expected,” he said. “Everyone came away unscathed so that’s all that matters.”
There was once incident of a tree falling on a home in West Vancouver, though luckily, it only damaged the soffit, according to West Vancouver’s assistant chief Jeff Bush.
“That’s pretty much about it. There were branches and stuff but nothing really major,” he said. “I was quite surprised actually.”
In the City of North Vancouver, crews rescued two people stuck in an elevator when their building on the 800 block of West 16th lost power.
“Some people get a bit claustrophobic when they’re in the (elevator) so we provide a level of comfort and try to facilitate a plan to open the door for them if it’s safe to do so,” said city fire chief Dan Pistilli.
The highest gusts of wind captured by a weather station on the North Shore was only 40 kilometres per hour at Point Atkinson, although Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan said winds were likely higher in other areas of the North Shore.
Both Grouse Mountain and Cypress ski resorts temporarily halted lifts for safety reasons at the storm’s peak.
Lower down the Strait of Georgia, on Saturna Island, gusts were recorded at 120 km/h.
A strong gust of wind caused a safety gate to blow off its hinges and land on the vehicle deck of the Bowen Queen ferry on Sunday morning, putting the vessel out of commission for a few hours.
With files from Maria Spitale-Leisk
