Raccoon knocks out power for thousands in downtown Toronto

Feb. 2 (UPI) -- A power outage affecting thousands of customers in downtown Toronto was caused by an unlucky raccoon that wandered into the wrong place, utility officials said.

Hydro One said on social media that about 7,000 downtown customers lost power for more than two hours Thursday night and crews "determined that a raccoon made contact with our equipment at a downtown Toronto station."

Tiziana Baccega Rosa, a spokeswoman for Hydro One, told Global News that crews were able to confirm that a raccoon was behind the issue at the Church-Wellesley area transmission station "because the animal was unfortunately there on site and had perished when they arrived."

Rosa said the company is looking into ways to prevent future incidents.