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Fortis BC area map of affected customers (Image Credit: FORTIS BC)
By Vernon Matters Staff
Natural Gas Outage

UPDATE: Gas outage being resolved for thousands in Lake Country, North Kelowna

Apr 16, 2026 | 11:10 AM

Natural gas service was being restored to about 6,200 customers in Lake Country and North Kelowna following a major outage.

FortisBC said crews needed to work through a multi-step process to bring service back online, and were still in the first step of shutting off all gas meters before safely restoring pressure to the system Thursday morning.

Technicians will then returned to relight appliances at homes and businesses across the affected areas.

Additional crews from other communities were also been tasked with assisting with the restoration effort.

Central Okanagan Emergency Management activated its Emergency Operations Centre at Level 1 during the outage and opened a warming centre at the Oyama Community Club for affected residents.

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Officials had warned people not to use outdoor heating or cooking equipment indoors, including barbecues, propane stoves, camping stoves, patio heaters and generators, due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning or fire.

“We recognize how disruptive this outage is for customers and appreciate everyone’s patience as crews work through the required steps to safely restore gas service,” a FortisBC representative told Vernon Matters in an email.

The cause of the outage was still undetermined as of time of publication.

More information is available at fortisbc.com/safety and coemergency.ca.

by Vernon Matters Staff
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