Tanker Trucks Bring Emergency Fuel to Manitoba Residents

CALGARY, MB — Tanker trucks are rushing to the aid of thousands of chilly Manitoba residents with emergency supplies of CNG after a pipeline explosion left them with no heat.

Early Saturday morning, the National Energy Board (NEB) responded to a pipeline incident near the town of Otterbume, about 25 kms south of Winnipeg, MB, on a sweet natural gas pipeline owned and operated by TransCanada Pipeline Inc.

Luckily, the pipeline break and resulting fire, reported shortly after 3 a.m. did not cause any harm to local residents, but the incident means the company cannot supply natural gas to Manitoba Hydro.

The Toronto Star reports that about 4,000 people living in municipalities south of Winnipeg might have to spend several days in frigid temperatures without fuel to heat their homes.

“To top it off, the temperature in the region was below -20 C and many highways were closed due to blowing snow,” the Star wrote. 

But even with those conditions, truckers hit the road to bring limited supplies of natural gas to critical locations identified by the Provincial Emergency Measures Organization, such as the De Salaberry Health Centre in St. Pierre-Jolys and the Heritage Life Personal Care Home in Niverville.

“TransCanada wants Manitoba Hydro customers affected by the natural gas outage to know that our staff is doing everything possible to determine the cause of the fire and get the pipeline repaired and regular natural gas service restored quickly, safely and in accordance with regulations,” the company said in a news release Sunday.


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