Winnipeg fog blamed for fire, poor visibility

Damp, foggy air caused a number of problems around Winnipeg on Wednesday morning.

While it crystalized as hoar frost and created picturesque scenes on trees and other objects, it also created extremely poor visibility on roads and highways and was blamed for a hydro pole fire in East Kildonan.

Tim Blazanovic, spokesperson for Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation, said visibility in some areas was less than 50 meters.

“Make sure you give yourself travelling distance behind other vehicles. In that kind of thick fog, if you’re going too fast, by the time you realize there’s someone there, it’s too late,” he said.

The fire, in the area of Raleigh Street and Greene Avenue, broke out at about 6:30 a.m.

The dampness enables electricity in the power lines to arc across the insulator and spark a pole-top fire.

Hydro spokesperson Scott Powell said it can be quite common in foggy weather to have such fires.

The dampness caused power havoc in the spring of 2010, disrupting the flow to downtown and triggering computer glitches and traffic light outages in several areas of the city.

There were no reports of power outages in Wednesday’s fire but there was some concern the flames would burn through the lines and cause them to drop to the ground.

The fog also caused the cancellation of a flight from Winnipeg to Minneapolis on Wednesday morning — because the plane wasn’t available.

The Delta Airlines flight was supposed to arrive in Winnipeg on Tuesday night (then take off the next morning) but the pilot turned back because of the fog.

There are no other fog-related flight delays or cancellations, according to the Winnipeg Airports Authority. But people are advised to check with their airline before heading to the airport, just to be sure.