September 28, 2014
City Hall will open Monday morning as usual for normal business operations. City of Toronto and Toronto Hydro crews have successfully restored power to the Toronto City Hall building by means of five emergency generators, after a hydro vault fire resulted in closure of the building on Thursday afternoon.
Crews worked throughout the weekend to run and connect cables to the temporary generators that will provide power to City Hall while permanent repairs to the electrical system are carried out over the next several weeks. After extensive cabling to wire in the generators was completed and switching carried out, City crews powered up the generators one by one and conducted load and systems’ testing to ensure the safe and effective function of the building’s entire electrical system.
The building’s HVAC system was purged after power was restored and extensive air quality testing was carried out before reopening. There were no significant findings. The air quality in the building will continue to be closely monitored for carbon monoxide levels, while the generators are running. Toronto Fire Service has tested the fire and life safety system in the building, which is fully functioning.
The City apologizes for any service disruptions or delays and thanks the public and all those affected for their patience while the building was closed.
City staff who work in the City Hall building are asked to report for their next regularly scheduled shift. Staff with specific questions should contact their manager or supervisor or call 311.
The Hester How Daycare, which operates in the building, will resume operations on Monday. The Café on the Square and the Toronto Public Library branch at City Hall will also open as usual.
Members of the public may contact 311 for further information.
The electrical fire, which was quickly brought under control by Toronto Fire Services, resulted in the closure of the building for the past three days and the evacuation of approximately 1,500 staff and others. Two staff working in the electrical room were treated for minor smoke inhalation.
Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit
http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.
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Media contact: Wynna Brown, Strategic Communications, 416-919-6503, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Fact Sheet
Quick facts: power restoration efforts at Toronto City Hall
Following a fire which occurred in a hydro vault at Toronto City Hall on Thursday September 25, the building is now being powered by five generators, two of which were transported to Toronto from Quebec, following the incident.
Installing the generators involved running more than 140 cables and wiring in each cable separately to the building’s electrical system.
Each of the 140 cables measures 250 to 300 feet or about 76.2 to 91.4 metres in length.
Placed end to end the cables would measure approximately 35,000 to 42,000 feet or about 12 kilometres; or almost from Lake Ontario to Highway 401.
During the peak of restoration efforts, the crew numbered about 75 people, many of whom worked around the clock.
During restoration work, it is estimated that more than 20 people were required to climb the stairs in the building from the basement to the top floor, multiple times, using only flashlights, as there was no lighting and the elevators in the building were not available. The East Tower in City Hall has 27 floors.
Four of the generators that are powering City Hall are 2 megawatts each. The other is 1.75 megawatts, for a total of 9.75 megawatts.
While the building is being powered by the generators, the lights in City Hall may be dimmer than usual. Small personal appliances that are not located within the building’s serveries , such as toasters, toaster ovens, coffee makers, kettles, fans, and space heaters, may not be used due to the power draw of these items.
It is expected that the generators will remain in place for several weeks, while permanent repairs are carried out to the building’s electrical system.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway. Total costs resulting from the fire and subsequent power outage and restoration are not known at this time but are being tracked and will be provided when available.
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Media contact: Wynna Brown, Strategic Communications, 416-919-6503, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
