Heat restored to Melfort area after natural gas outage

People in Melfort, Kinistino and St. Brieux are feeling the warmth again.

Sask Energy announced late Thursday heat had been restored after a ruptured pipeline knocked out natural gas services to about 4,500 customers.

The problem began early Wednesday morning when a six inch high pressure under ground line ruptured in field between Weldon and Birch Hills.

SaskEnergy is now looking into the cause of the rupture, as well what can be learned from what the company calls the largest natural gas outage in the province’s history.

“Our guys are kind of like pipeline CSI. They’re going to be able to put together what happened,” SaskEnergy Spokesperson Dave Burdeniuk told the Brent Loucks Show on Friday.

Even after repairs were made and the gas was flowing, Burdeniuk said they had to go to each affected home and re-light gas appliances.

It meant some people had to endure the cold for over 24-hours before the heat came back on   Burdeniuk said it could have been even longer had it not been for the resourcefulness of some.

“Hats off to the people of Melfort and area because probably a third of the relights that happened were people doing it themselves or neighbour helping out or a family member helping out. That helped us get ahead.”

The natural gas utility will continue safety checks Friday. Customers in the affected area that have not yet had their service inspected by SaskEnergy are asked to call 1-888-700-0427.