Nk'Mip wildfire takes out Shaw services to Grand Forks region

Photo: BCWS

Nk'Mip wildfire on on July 21

Shaw internet, phone and TV customers in the Grand Forks area have been without service for days due to the Nk’Mip wildfire burning outside Osoyoos.

“We continue to face restrictions that prevent us from accessing our equipment to complete repairs due to wildfire activity,” the service provider said online Monday morning.

Service has been out since July 23, according to Shaw.

With wildfires raging across the region, some in the region between Christina Lake and Midway are getting anxious.

“Living in a small community like Grand Forks often times leaves you 'out of the loop' when it comes to news and information at the best of times and know that it is seldom the rest of the province even knows that we exist,” said a resident of Grand Forks, who wished to remain anonymous.

“Living through and still being in the middle of a pandemic alone was crazy as far as being disconnected, but now, for a large number of the people to not have TV or internet and add that we are also in a time of severe drought and unprecedented wildfire season is not a good feeling.”

When contacted by Castanet for comment, Shaw deferred to its outage website.

“We are working to restore service as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” Shaw said online.