Power outage hits Libby and Troy

More than 3,000 people were without power in Libby and Troy Tuesday afternoon after a regulator caught fire at the substation near Troy.

Although the fire was minor enough to be knocked down by city crews with a fire extinguisher, safety protocols required the transmission lines to be shut down in the area, which resulted in the widespread power outage.

“It’s a Bonneville Power Authority safety protocol,” said City of Troy power company manager Clint Taylor. “They own the transmission lines and they require them to be shut down in the case of a fire.”

Taylor said the outage began around 11:45 a.m., and a combined crew from the City of Troy, Bonneville Power Authority and Northern Lights Inc. worked for more than eight hours to clean up the substation and restore power.

“We had three city guys, four BPA guys and probably 10 to 12 from NLI on-site cleaning it up,” he said. “We had power restored by about 8 p.m. here.”

The power in Libby was restored in the early afternoon, long before the crews finished in Troy.

Troy Mayor Darren Coldwell said the incident showcased a community that cares about its members.

“The fire department opened up,” he said. “They provided a warm place for people, as well as a place for people to plug in medical equipment, like breathing machines. The police went out and knocked on the doors of elderly and other at-risk people to make sure everyone was OK. It was a good example of a community coming together to take care of each other.”