A squirrel is being blamed for an hours-long power outage in Toronto's east end
Power has been restored to most customers affected by an hours-long outage Thursday morning, but 350 residents are expected to remain in the dark well into the afternoon.
Reports of outages began rolling in around 6:40 a.m., according to Toronto Hydro spokesperson Maja Boric. The outage stretched from Gerrard Street south to the lake, and the Don Valley Parkway east to Woodbine Avenue.
At its peak, the outage affected about 3,800 customers.
Around 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Toronto Hydro said the remaining few hundred customers are in an area bordered by Gerrard Street, Broadview Avenue, Dundas Street and the DVP.
A squirrel appears to have caused a transformer fire, which led to the outage, Toronto Hydro spokesperson Tori Gass told CBC Toronto.
Crews have to fix extensive damage caused by the fire, Gass said, including replacing a pole and overhead wires.
The outage also had a big impact on TTC streetcar service, spokesperson Kadeem Griffiths said, as streetcars couldn't get out of the Leslie Barns Carhouse.
The TTC had to deploy buses to service streetcar routes where needed, Griffiths said, and operators were headed to the Russell Carhouse to get some of the older streetcars into service.
Shortly after 8:30 a.m. Thursday the TTC tweeted that regular service had been restored, but buses would continue to supplement service through the morning commute. The transit agency did say, however, that there continue to be delays on some east-end routes with traffic lights affected by the outage.
