It isn’t just farmers feeling the heat from the lack of rain in Saskatchewan.
The dry conditions are causing the cables to pull away from SaskPower meter boxes on the back of homes.
In Regina, it was the cause of a fire in the Glencairn neighbourhood.
As a result, crews will be going to certain homes looking for issues.
“The significant areas that we know could have problem are basically from the early 1970s, different types of wire, copper wire and that had smaller meter boxes,” SaskPower operations manager Ryan Blair explained.
The checks will take several weeks to complete but a particular focus is being given to Regina because of its gumbo clay soil. Shifting has been particularly significant in that city and checks have begun already in Glencairn, Uplands, Parliament Place and Normanview.
While SaskPower advises you not to touch the meter box, you are encouraged to take a look for any shifting.
“Look for the ground settling on the bottom of your house, you can see it will have dropped,” Blair said. “Look for any of the conduit pipes, if they have pulled down out of the bottom of the meter box or if your meter box is actually tilted on the house.”
The fires on the meter box are extremely rare but can cause significant damage.