Ice Rain causes havoc with Oakville's power

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Oakville Hydro crews were out late last night working hard to restore power to South-West Oakville. They first reported on the problem via there twitter account at 6:35 PM on Monday March 3, 2015.

As with most of the GTA, the freezing rain was playing havoc with the power grid. At one point there were over 30 pole fires reported on last night. Oakville was not immune to this nasty phenomenon.

Around 5:30 PM last night, a local resident reported seeing a transformer pop followed by a cloud of smoke on the South Service Road between Bronte Road and Dorval Drive. Oakville Fire and EMS crews actually had to deal with two pole fires between 4th Line and Dorval, which Oakville Hydro reported at 11:30 PM.

Utility pole fires are common and are treated with great respect by firefighters. Pole fires are normally caused by the failure of insulators, switches, catastrophic failure of transformers or oil-filled switching equipment. Dealing with this type of fire is unique in that water does not stop the fire. The electrical current must be shut off and then the fire department is able to extinguish the fire. This is why an number of South-West Oakville residents found themselves in the dark last night.

From a civilian's perspective it is important to notify Halton Emergency Services, and to stay well back from area. Strong electrical currents can run right down to the base of the pole.

By 2:46 AM, Oakville Hydro reported that all hydro had been restore with the exception of an area along Wyecroft Road from Sinclair Road to Kerr Street. At 6:08 AM, Oakville Hydro reported that all power had been restored.

So if you were wondering what was happening with your power last night, Oakville Hydro, Oakville Fire Department, and Halton Regional Police were extremely busy, and that isn't even mentioning the number of collisions that took place last night.