St. Clair Township Fire responded to an incident Wednesday morning involving a tractor and hydro transmission line near Lasalle Line and Ladysmith Road.
Bluewater Power President and CEO Janice McMichael Dennis said the incident happened at around 9:30 a.m.
"It was felt throughout the city and the area when a tractor pulled down a steel Hydro One transmission tower," said McMichael Dennis. "The tower came down and that would have caused basically a power interruption or people often think of it as a blip and it would have rippled through everywhere here locally. It's not on our system, it's a Hydro One system but of course we have been informed and we've sent people on site to see if we could assist."
Residents were being told to avoid the area.
Those living nearby were notified that a temporary hydro outage was possible while repairs were completed.
The operator of the tractor was able to escape without injury.
The incident resulted in a power disruption at Suncor's Sarnia Refinery. The company said an incident response was activated at 10 a.m. and power has since been restored.
Suncor said community members will notice an increase in flaring and the presence of black smoke while operations return to normal.
As an added safety precaution, the company is also conducting perimeter monitoring.
Increased flaring and noise was also possible at Plains Midstream. The Plank Road facility experienced a brief power disruption as well Wednesday morning.
- With files from Stephanie Chaves
