UPDATE: One person suffered minor injuries in crash that knocked out power near Mara

Jan 20, 2026 | 2:06 PM

A single vehicle collision on Highway 97A knocked out power to hundreds of people and resulted in one person suffering minor injuries.

Power went out for 253 customers around Mara at around 12:18 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, as a result of a single vehicle crash.

A caller told Vernon Matters the incident forced the highway to be closed and traffic to be backed up significantly for around an hour.

Emergency Health Services said one ambulance and an advance care paramedic attended the scene, where they treated one person and then took them to hospital, noting they were in stable condition at the time.

B.C. Hydro had a crew on scene shortly after 1:30, and power was restored by 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

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— Original Story —

Hundreds of people lost power and traffic has stalled following a crash south of Mara Lake.

A caller told Vernon Matters that a crash on Highway 97A caused traffic to be significantly backed up outside Mara, stating that no cars had moved for roughly 40 minutes.

B.C. Hydro stated that a motor vehicle incident caused a power outage for 253 customers near Mara at approximately 12:18 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20.

A crew was reportedly on-site as of 1:31 p.m., and the utility provider said it expected power to be restored by 5 p.m.

Emergency Health Services said paramedics attended the scene of the crash Tuesday afternoon.

“Paramedics provided emergency medical care to one patient who was transported in serious, but stable condition to hospital,” Brian Twaites, BCEHS Paramedic Public Information Officer.

by Liam Verster

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