On what was surely
one of the coldest nights of the year, a power failure plunged a large section of the city's west side into complete darkness.
Power went out in an area stretching roughly from St. Clair to Queen and Keele to Spadina around 10pm Thursday. Toronto Hydro says there was a flooding at the Dufferin transformer station they believe to be the cause.
Subway service in the downtown core was initially not affected, but just before midnight TTC officials confirmed service was suspended between on the Bloor-Danforth line between St. George and Islington. More than a dozen shuttle buses were running along Bloor in place of the underground trains.
There was no immediate word on exactly when power would be restored across the board.
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Power Outage Reminders
Toronto Hydro has the following reminders about the loss of electricity and things you can do to ease the problem for the utilities' crews.
- Don't go near any downed power lines, damaged utility poles or wires that are hanging low. Your electricity is out. Theirs isn't and you could get electrocuted.
- Turn off or unplug electronic components and motor-driven equipment, including fridges, furnaces and pumps. These are heavy energy drawing appliances and when power does come back on, it could cause a heavy drain.
- Don't open the freezer or the fridge unless you have to. The longer the door stays closed, the longer your food will keep.
- Don't use a gas stove or generator as a room heater and beware of kerosene heaters. You could be affected by carbon monoxide gas, which is odourless and invisible - but deadly.
- If you have an automatic garage door opener, there should be an emergency release that comes with it. If your car is stuck in your garage, use a supplied key to unlock the door or pull on the dangling nylon rope that comes with the mechanism. This will release the lock and the door will open.
- Always have a cell phone or a landline phone during an outage. Cordless phones that plug into the wall won't work when the electricity is out.
- Unplug all sensitive appliances and machines, like computers and satellite receivers while the power is out. They could be hit by a surge when it's restored, frying your equipment. Consider plugging them in to a
surge protector to safeguard them in future.