B.C. Power Outages Trigger Fuel Rush in Canmore During August Long Weekend

Rumours that Canmore had run out of gasoline during the August long weekend spread quickly across local social media. But while fuel stations experienced some of the busiest conditions of the summer as motorists from British Columbia crossed into Alberta looking for gas, local operators say widespread shortages never materialized.

The surge in demand was driven by a major power outage caused by wildfires in southeastern British Columbia over the August long weekend, which left fuel pumps and electric vehicle chargers offline across much of the Columbia Valley.

On Aug. 2, BC Hydro said nearly 18,000 customers in Golden, Parsons, Radium Hot Springs, Athalmer, Fairmont Hot Springs, Canal Flats and surrounding communities had lost power after wildfire damage knocked out transmission infrastructure the previous night.

Later that evening, DriveBC warned motorists there was no fuel or EV charging available between Revelstoke and the Alberta border along Highway 1, or between Golden and Wasa along Highways 93 and 95 because of the ongoing outages. Tourism Golden also urged travellers to plan ahead, warning that fuel and charging remained unavailable along major travel corridors through the Columbia Valley.

The disruptions pushed many travellers east toward Banff and Canmore, where stations quickly filled with vehicles.

"We were busy," said Sunil Patel, manager of the Canmore Esso on Railway Avenue. "Because there was no fuel in Golden, everybody was coming over here to fill up."

Patel said the station anticipated heavy August long weekend traffic and ordered additional fuel deliveries in advance, allowing it to keep operating despite the influx of customers.

The station briefly ran out of regular fuel for roughly 30 minutes on Sunday before a delivery arrived, though customers were still able to purchase premium gasoline during that time.

A gas station manager in Lake Louise described similar conditions. The station experienced a surge in customers on Sunday and temporarily ran out of regular gasoline for about an hour between roughly 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Rather than turning motorists away, staff sold premium gasoline until fuel deliveries arrived. The manager said fuel supplies had since returned to normal and described reports of widespread shortages as exaggerated.

At the Canmore Shell, attendant Manpreet Kaur said the station also saw an unusually high volume of customers throughout the weekend but never exhausted its fuel supply.

Referring to Aug. 2 and Aug. 3, Kaur said, "The last two days we were very busy."

Instead, the challenge was congestion. She estimated some motorists waited between 30 and 40 minutes to reach the pumps as long lines formed throughout the day.

"They were ready to wait, but they didn't want to leave their space," she said.

Kaur also said some travellers arrived with multiple jerry cans, stocking up before returning west into areas where fuel remained unavailable.

The busy conditions prompted speculation online that Canmore itself had run out of gasoline, with Facebook posts claiming only one station still had fuel remaining by Sunday evening.

Neither station supported that characterization.

While demand was significantly higher than normal, both said they continued serving customers throughout the weekend, with only a brief interruption at Esso affecting one grade of gasoline.

As of Tuesday morning, both stations said fuel remained available and customers could continue filling up normally.

Across the border, several gas stations in Golden and Radium Hot Springs also confirmed they once again had fuel available, suggesting supply was beginning to return to communities affected by the wildfire-related power outages.