By MARTI EBBERT KURTH

The sport of "plinking" or shooting at electrical insulators led to a serious power outage for over 7,000 people in and around Whitefish last Friday night.

Vandals shot out a 230-kilovolt insulator on a transmission tower about 18 miles east of Libby near the Wolf Creek railroad grade along Highway 2. The main transmission line, owned by the Bonneville Power Administration, carries power to Flathead Electric customers in west Kalispell, Whitefish and part of Columbia Falls.

Power went out around 8 p.m. and wasn't restored until 11:30 p.m. The outage covered all of Whitefish city limits and required North Valley Hospital to use emergency generators to keep the hospital's core services functioning. All traffic lights were down and police and emergency personnel were on alert. Restaurants, bars and other businesses were affected on the typically busy Friday night.

"This is the second act of shooting vandalism in about a week," said Don Hawkins, BPA resource manager. "The last one took out the line to Eureka. We want people to know that this kind of activity is becoming a serious problem in northwest Montana and that it is potentially dangerous and always costly."

He says the BPA is committed to finding and prosecuting those who do such acts of vandalism. Officials are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons involved in the shooting. The BPA crime witness Hotline is 800-437-2744. "We urge anyone with information to contact us or law enforcement authorities immediately."

Stephanie Wallace, public information officer for Flathead Electric Coop, said the company worked to reroute power as quickly as possible. "A power outage impacts so many people. From businesses to elderly people living at home who rely on oxygen. It is unfortunate that people who do this sort of thing (vandalism) don't realize the magnitude of their actions."

Hawkins says they typically see this sort of vandalism in the fall just before hunting season and in the spring, when gopher hunting begins. The insulators are made of ceramic and can be destroyed easily with a 22 gauge shotgun. He says the BPA has been replacing many of the ceramic insulators over the past ten years with ones made of a material more resistant to bullets. But the best prevention is education.

"We urge parents to instruct their young people on firearm safety, especially where its safe and appropriate to take target practice," he says.

When the 230-kilovolt transmission line insulator was destroyed it sent a huge volt of electricity into the ground where it could have electrocuted anyone standing nearby. "It's more powerful than a bolt of lightening," Hawkins explains.

Around Whitefish people made the most of the darkness. At the Great Northern Bar they played pool and ping pong by candlelight and sent people to the bathroom with flashlights.

"It was pretty crazy in here," said Mike Anderson, bar manager. "Since it was dark at home, everybody came downtown and hung out. I was just about to tell the band to go home, when the power came on, and by then we were packed," he laughed.

Some residents just found the darkness a good excuse to go to bed early.