Power Outage Hits Downtown Toronto Due to Raccoon Incident

A significant power outage is currently impacting around 7,000 customers in downtown Toronto, with areas bounded by St. Clair Avenue West to Gerrard Street West and Avenue Road to the Don Valley Parkway being affected. The blackout occurred after a raccoon came into contact with equipment at a downtown Toronto station, as reported by Hydro One shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Toronto Fire officials have been dealing with a high number of elevator rescues, while traffic lights and transit services in the area have also been impacted by the power outage. Toronto Hydro is working closely with Hydro One to restore power and resolve the issue as quickly and safely as possible. They estimate that power will not be restored until 6 a.m. Friday morning, according to a message on Toronto Hydro’s outage webpage.

The cause of the issue has not been disclosed by Hydro One at this time.