BC Hydro is urging citizens to remain vigilant after reports of a transformer being vandalised in the Parkgate area of North Vancouver this past Sunday.
“We can confirm there have been multiple instances of this type of damage. We continue to work closely with the North Vancouver RCMP on the ongoing issue of vandalism in the area,” said BC Hydro senior media relations advisor Susie Rieder.
“We ask that the public continue to remain vigilant of any suspicious activity around our infrastructure in the area and contact the RCMP with any information,” she added.
The vandalism on Sunday is the latest in a series of bizarre and brazen crime incidents that started in July this year. It was in July that four transformers in the Seymour community had holes drilled in them, leading to power outages, oil spills and transformer explosions.
The transformers that were vandalised in July were all in the same area – along the edge of Northland golf course. BC Hydro believes it is the same person responsible for each incident. It cost BC Hydro approximately $150,000 to replace and repair the equipment.
That reckless and extremely dangerous behaviour by the individual continued in the fall, when BC Hydro reported another case of vandalism in the Seymour area on October 23.
Someone seemed to have drilled holes into a pad-mounted transformer box again, causing an outage at the 1200 block of Caledonia Avenue that resulted in the closure of Seycove Secondary school. Besides shutting down the school, the outage also affected Mount Seymour Parkway and Mount Seymour Road areas.
Vandalism to BC Hydro infrastructure carries great danger.
“Vandalism to our equipment is extremely dangerous and can cause power outages, fires and oil spills. Tampering with a box can also be deadly — transformers have about 12,500 volts of electricity,” she said.
North Vancouver RCMP is currently investigating these incidents, and citizens are being urged to report any suspicious behaviour to the police.
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