With a dense fog coating the Sundre area, the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 10 was not a pleasant time to be out on the roads.
Traffic on Highway 27 about a kilometre east of Sundre was temporarily rerouted by emergency responders at about 7:30 p.m. when a power pole on the north side of the highway caught fire, cutting power to large parts of the surrounding area.
Responders couldn't say for sure whether the heavy fog that settled in earlier in the late afternoon and early evening caused the blaze, but were concerned a power line extending over to the south side of the highway might collapse across the road, creating a serious hazard for motorists. Therefore the decision was made to detour traffic south on Rge. Rd. 51, then west on Twp. Rd. 324 back to Highway 760, commonly known as the Bergen Road, south of Sundre.
Shortly after 8 p.m., the highway was deemed safe and the road was reopened.
A FortisAlberta crew continued to work until the power was restored shortly afterwards at about 8:30 pm.