Power restored in York Region after road salt causes hydro troubles

CP24.com 
February 18, 2014
By Joshua Freeman

Power is back for thousands of hydro customers in York Region after road salt caused a number of hydro poles to catch fire Tuesday afternoon.

Approximately 5,300 customers were without power in three areas at the height of the outage around 3 p.m., PowerStream spokesperson Eric Fagen told CP24.

Approximately 3,000 customers were without power in the Keele Street and Highway 407 area.

Another 2,200 customers were in the dark in an area from Weston Road to Keele Street, between Highway 407 and Langstaff Road.

About 80 customers were also without power between Bathurst and Dufferin streets, between Highway 7 and Langstaff Road.

By 6:30 p.m. power had been restored to all customers, PowerStream said.

Outages causing trouble on the road
The outages caused problems for drivers Tuesday afternoon, with many lights out at intersections in the Highway 7 and Highway 400 area, York Regional police said.

Some traffic lights were also out along Dufferin street, south of Finch Avenue in Toronto around 2 p.m..

A ramp from westbound highway 7 to northbound Highway 400 is still expected to be closed for several hours as a hydro pole is repaired.

Motorists who come to an intersection without power are advised to treat is a four-way stop. Police are also advising motorists to use alternate routes of possible.

Fagen said hydro poles sometimes catch fire when road salt interferes with the operation of the conductors.

“It (road salt) just plays havoc with our equipment,” Fagen said. “This is what happens when you have extreme cold weather and then a thaw, especially in areas of heavy traffic.”

Fagen said salt from the roadway gets kicked up by passing vehicles and can end up inside the electrical equipment, where it can spark a fire.

Power was expected to be restored to remaining customers by about 6:30 p.m., PowerStream said.