Thieves steal Halifax power station's copper wire during Sunday storm
Carolyn Ray | CBC News | Posted: January 21, 2019 7:15 PM | Last Updated: January 21, 2019
More than 5,000 customers had their power shut off Monday to conduct the repairs
Nova Scotia Power says someone could have been killed because of a dangerous theft during Sunday night's storm in the Halifax area.
At some point in the night, someone broke into the Spryfield substation and ripped out copper wire that was in use.
"It's highly dangerous," said David Rodenhiser, a spokesperson for the utility. "The people who stole this copper, they risked their own lives."
More than 5,000 homes and businesses were without power Monday afternoon so electrical crews could complete the repairs to the substation.
Rodenhiser said the repair work also came with significant risk for the employees.
"When they steal copper, the protective safety devices that are in the substations don't always work properly. So structures in those substations and even areas of ground can be electrified that normally wouldn't have an electrical charge running through them."
Nova Scotia Power has issued a number of warnings in the past because of copper thefts.
"Anytime it happens, it puts people's lives at risk," Rodenhiser said. "It's definitely something we don't want to see happen."
He says police are now investigating the latest incident.