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Electrical failure triggers crash alarm at Williams Lake Airport

City crews are trying to determine what caused an electrical failure Thursday that set off the crash alarm at the Williams Lake Airport at 4 a.m.
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A crash alarm went off at the Williams Lake Airport at 4 a.m. Thursday, and blared for an hour and a half. Photo submitted.

People living in the vicinity of the Williams Lake Airport had a rude awakening at 4 a.m. Thursday when an electrical failure set off the crash alarm, which blared for an hour and a half.

“It’s a big horn in a shed and it’s loud,” said Gary Muraca, the city’s director of municipal services. “It was on steady from 4 to 5:30 a.m. and they would have heard it in Wildwood and Pine Valley.”

Staff arrived at the airport to shut it off and are trying to determine what exactly transpired.

“Something like this has never happened before,” Muraca said. “Unfortunately it happened during the night and not the day when we could have responded quickly.”

Muraca guessed the cause of the problem was a short in a relay, but said he will know more once an electrician assesses it.

In February, the airport experienced electrical problems with the lights on the landing strip and there were recurring problems with traffic lights at Oliver and Seventh Streets during December and January.

Read More: Electrical problems with lights at Williams Lake Airport’s landing strip solved



Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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