South London crash involving hydro pole leaves thousands in the dark

A collision involving a hydro pole in the city’s south end on Friday left thousands without power, including London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).

Emergency crews responded to the scene near the intersection of Bradley Avenue and Pond Mills Road shortly before 1:30 p.m.

According to London Hydro spokesperson Nancy Hutton, a truck collided with a hydro line on Buchanan Court, about 500 metres south of the intersection, resulting in the outage.

At its peak, roughly 8,000 London Hydro customers were affected, according to Hutton. That number dropped to approximately 2,800 as of just after 2:30 p.m.

London Hydro estimates power will be restored to remaining customers by at least 5:30 p.m.

LHSC said in a tweet that parts of its Victoria Hospital campus had been affected. Spokesperson Mandy Gelinas confirmed to 980 CFPL shortly after 3 p.m. that power had since been restored.

Few details are known about the crash itself. No injuries were reported, and the intersection was closed in all directions, police said.

The intersection remained closed as of around 5 p.m. as hydro crews worked to get remaining customers back online.

It’s at least the third collision involving a hydro pole in just over 24 hours.

A two-vehicle collision along Highbury Avenue south of Hamilton Road Thursday morning left one person in hospital with serious injuries.

Just a few hours later, London police reported a single-vehicle collision along Commissioners Road West between Wonderland Road and Topping Lane that also involved a hydro pole. No injuries were reported.

– This story will be updated.