In 2010, an unidentified British Columbia man became stranded in the bush of northern Saskatchewan. The man had been on a boat on the lake when he hit bad weather. He ended up stranded, with no way of communication. He did, however, have an axe on his boat. After realizing that the local power company would have to check a downed line, he went to work chopping down four power poles and in the process knocking out electricity to surrounding communities. The man had been stranded for a number of days and was desperate for someone to find him. It wasn’t long before SaskPower was notified of the outage. They chartered a helicopter and found the man when they went to check the power in the area. The government normally tries to recoup damages from vandalism, but in this case the man was not held accountable. Meanwhile, there were some pretty unhappy residents in the area who went without power for two days. Wollaston Lake City Council member Ed Benoanie reminded the public that anyone traveling in unfamiliar territory should carry a survival kit, including matches. “The best thing is, stay where you are and build a big bonfire,” said Benoanie.
