Power outages leave 25,000 Toronto customers in dark

Toronto Hydro, Powerstream Inc. report several outages in Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York, as well as Vaughan and Richmond Hill

Thestar.com
March 3, 2015
By Diana Hall

Toronto Hydro crews have been out in force as a number of power outages struck neighbourhoods across the city Tuesday evening, disrupting commutes and about 25,000 customers from Etobicoke to North York and Scarborough.

Toronto Fire Services had crews responding to 26 transformer or pole fires across the city at about 6:30 p.m., and firefighters expected to be fighting them well into the evening.

“There’s been a tremendous number of them,” said Stephan Powell, public information officer with Toronto Fire.

He said a combination of the temperature, falling precipitation and ice weighing down wires is to blame for the spike in transformer fires.

“The weather has been undiscriminating,” Powell said.

According to Toronto Hydro, the outages have been caused by both weather-related issues as well as transmission problems with Hydro One. Toronto Hydro had to call in extra crews to help get the lights back on.

Power outages hit traffic lights across the city and thwarted shopping plans for Torontonians at Yorkdale Mall Tuesday evening. Toronto police confirmed the mall would close early.

Powerstream Inc. reported crews were also working to restore power to 2,600 customers in the Weston Rd. and Highway 7 area in Vaughan. Thousands were also reported to be without power in Markham and Richmond Hill.

There is no estimated restoration time.

The outages across Toronto and surrounding cities are a result of the messy weather that hit the GTA Tuesday - a mix of snow and freezing drizzle that has continued into the evening.