‘Explosions’ accompany

latest power outages

Many Muskokans spent a cold, dark night in their homes on Saturday as winter returned to the area with a bang.

High winds and wet heavy snow knocked out power to more than 150,000 homes across Ontario and more than 35,000 in Muskoka and the surrounding area alone.

Power had been restored to most households in Muskoka as of Monday evening, said Hydro One spokesperson Daniele Gauvin. She expected power to be fully restored some time yesterday, but said Hydro One was still receiving calls on Monday regarding new outages.

As of Tuesday morning, approximately 2,200 people in Bracebridge were still waiting to have their power restored, Gauvin indicated.

The snow and wind caused trees and limbs to come crashing down on power lines, said Gauvin. Poor road conditions further hampered the ability of the crews to reach problem areas, she added.

Hydro crews from across the province were called in to help restore power, and Gauvin said more than 260 crews were in Muskoka on Monday.

Lakeland Power chief operating officer Vince Kulchycki reported that roughly 500 Lakeland customers had lost power over the weekend.

Although the duration and location of the outages varied, power to all customers had been restored as of Sunday evening, said Kulchycki.

In a strange twist, several people in Bracebridge also reported seeing what appeared to be explosions near the time of the power outages.

Fran Janes was awakened in her Wilson’s Falls Road home at roughly 2 a.m. by a malfunctioning smoke alarm. Janes, whose power had gone off earlier in the night, noticed something strange out the bedroom window.

“I saw a flash of light off on the horizon,” she said. “Then I saw several more flashes and a bang a short time afterwards that sounded almost like a gunshot.”

Janes said she first thought it might be lighting, but in the morning she spoke with her daughter, who had seen the same thing from the upstairs loft and thought it was more of an explosion.

A similar experience was reported by Heather Frew, whose Queen Street home overlooks Bracebridge Bay.

“There was a bright flash and then an immediate bang . . . and I thought it was thunder and lighting,” she said. “I was looking across the bay and a few seconds later something on one of the hydro poles exploded and there was another big flash. A lot of sparks came pouring down and then power went out on that side of the river.”

Power on the south side of the bay went out about 30 minutes later, but had been restored by morning.

Gauvin said Hydro One had no reports of an explosion in the Bracebridge area.

Kulchycki said he was not aware of any explosions, but there were reports of downed branches causing sparking on the lines in the vicinity of High Falls Road and on Kirk Line.

The public is reminded to stay away from any downed power lines, as they could pose a potential safety hazard.