Suspected animal contact causes power outage in large swath of ...

Posted May 15, 2024 11:12 am.

Last Updated May 15, 2024 1:21 pm.

A power outage is affecting a large swath of downtown Toronto on Wednesday and it could be hours before it is back up.

Toronto Hydro said the outage, which is affecting around 6,500 customers, was the result of a squirrel making contact with some equipment.

The outage is from Rosedale Valley Road south to the Gardiner Expressway, and Church Street east to the Don Valley Parkway.

Traffic lights are down at several intersections across the city.

In an update, Toronto Hydro power was expected to be restored around 3 p.m.

“Crews are on site working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power to all affected customers,” a spokesperson said.

Earlier this year, a raccoon was to blame for an outage that affected about 7,000 Toronto Hydro customers in the downtown core.

At the time, Hydro One said it has looking at ways to make sure raccoons and other wildlife stay out of transmission stations.