London police are trying to find a man suspected of cutting down a hydro pole in the south part of the city on Tuesday, which left many customers without power and created a costly repair situation for London Hydro.
Someone reported the incident around 5:45 p. m. after hearing a loud sound and noticing smoke and flames near a hydro pole located close to Exeter Road and Meg Drive, according to police.
Emergency responders arrived to find a fallen pole along with several live power lines at the scene, determining that the pole had been deliberately brought down.
London Hydro crews were dispatched, and an image shared by the utility shows the fallen pole was situated between 583 and 593 Exeter Road, just east of Meg Drive.
“A chainsaw was used to cut down a London Hydro pole carrying a three-phase transformer bank,” hydro officials said in a statement. “The pole came down around 5:45 p. m., damaging electrical equipment and energized lines, leading to a fire.”
London police are now looking for the public’s help identifying a male suspect wanted in connection with the incident. (London Police Service)
The outage affected about 1,300 customers in Westminster and White Oaks areas but was restored by approximately 7:40 p. m., according to hydro officials.
Surveillance footage captured an image of the suspect during the incident; he is described by police as a white male wearing a ball cap, black hoodie with writing on it, and grey pants.
Police believe that the vehicle involved is likely a grey 2019 Honda CR-V or something similar.
In an official statement, Ysni Semsedini, CEO of London Hydro, mentioned that this act endangered not only members of the public but also utility workers and first responders.
“Cutting down a hydro pole carrying energized equipment is incredibly dangerous. When that equipment comes down, there is serious risk of electrical contact, fire and significant damage. That’s exactly what happened last night.”
London Hydro officials said a chainsaw was used to cut down the pole, which had been carrying an electrified three-phase transformer bank that was damaged, resulting in a small fire. (London Hydro)
Repair costs from such incidents only add more financial strain on maintaining local infrastructure as noted by hydro officials.
Police estimated that damages amounted to roughly $10,000; however, Allan Van Damme, London Hydro’s VP of engineering and construction stated it likely cost them over $30,000 for repairs.
This event comes as London Hydro seeks approval from the Ontario Energy Board for higher local delivery fees starting next year-funds which cover maintenance and outage repairs.
“Affordability is a big priority for London Hydro,” Van Damme said.
“We want to provide affordable electricity to our customers; when we encounter unplanned issues like this one… it impacts our rates since we have an obligation for safe reliable distribution.”
We’re aware of an outage at Exeter Rd near Wellington/White Oaks area due partly to downed poles causing fires; please exercise caution around here while crews work-we estimate restoration around 10:30 tonight…
-London Hydro
A motive behind this act remains unclear; however Van Damme suspects they may have thought it safe enough believing those lines weren’t active intending instead perhaps collecting copper or metal parts from transformers themselves..
In truth he explained these poles contained wires running at levels up towards thirty thousand volts…
“Cutting them could easily lead into short-circuiting high-voltage systems resulting thereby explosive reactions,” commented Van Damme further saying.. “It’s crucial society understands tampering shouldn’t ever be considered-extreme danger exists.”
Incidents involving damage through theft linked back onto infrastructure across utilities ramped up substantially over past two years noted him continuing though last year’s peak saw declines attributed largely through collaboration efforts amongst their utility plus law enforcement & scrap yards alike! P>
Just preceding Tuesday there arose another case where severance occurred via four inch thick hydro line below Adelaide Street South bridge affecting five thousand customers ultimately repairing stretched beyond eight months earlier reported Semsidini.
New criminal code reforms initiated over summer allow stricter sentencing toward thefts/robberies if essential structures suffer harm henceforth!
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