Raccoon Causes Massive Power Outage in Downtown Toronto

A raccoon was responsible for a significant power outage in downtown Toronto, leaving approximately 7,000 customers without electricity for several hours on Thursday night. The incident occurred when the raccoon made contact with equipment at a downtown station operated by Toronto Hydro and Hydro One, disrupting the power supply across parts of the city.

Toronto Hydro, in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, acknowledged the outage and outlined the affected boundaries as St. Clair Avenue West to Gerrard Street West and Avenue Road to the Don Valley Parkway. The utility reassured customers that they were working in collaboration with Hydro One to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.

The power outage, which started around 7:40 p.m., lasted for approximately three hours before full restoration of power was achieved by 10:30 p.m., according to Toronto Hydro’s outage map.

During the outage, Toronto Fire Services received several elevator rescue calls, particularly in buildings located on Bloor Street, College Street, and Ontario Street. Since the power was cut off, occupants were stranded in elevators until access or power restoration could be provided. While larger buildings usually have backup power, some smaller buildings or those experiencing backup power failure were affected.

Torontonians took to X to share their experiences of the city in darkness during the outage, with photos illustrating the unusually dark surroundings.

This incident highlights the vulnerability of the power infrastructure to wildlife interference and serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining and securing equipment to prevent such disruptions.