Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Kugluktuk (Oct 23/00) - When the lights went out in Kugluktuk last month, it was the hamlet's Y2K readiness that saved the day.

Fred Cornelssen, the maintenance manager of Kugluktuk Housing, said measures taken to ward off potential disaster with the arrival of year 2000 came in handy Sept.16.

A fire in the power plant damaged the hamlet's two main generators and knocked out most of the electricity supply. A smaller generator continued to operate, and provided power on a rotating grid.

"I was contacted about 4:45 a.m., and because we were set up for year 2000, within 15-20 minutes, we were set up with power," he said.

Cornelssen contacted hamlet officials and Northwest Territories Power Corporation employees immediately. He said the efficient response brought power back quite quickly.

Two emergency generators were flown in on a Hercules aircraft less than 24 hours after the fire.

"We're talking full power back up in 31 hours. In a Northern community, that's pretty good," said Cornelssen.

Peter Watt, a spokesperson for NTPC, said the emergency generators have been returned to their owner and that most of the repairs are completed. He did not have a final cost for the incident, or know what caused the blaze.

"All we understand at the moment was that the fire started in one of the engines and damaged the wiring and the control panel in the other engine," said Watt.

Mayor Joanne Taptuna said she was pleased with how well the situation was handled, but she wondered how well things would have gone had the incident occurred in the winter.

"With the weather not being cold, it was easier to respond, especially with everyone pitching in," said Taptuna.

"It would have been really bad if it was in January."