Bus crash leaves tens of thousands without power on Montreal’s South Shore

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Thousands of Hydro-Québec customers on Montreal’s South Shore have been without power since Saturday night, when a bus crashed into an electrical pylon shortly before 10 p.m. and knocked it over.

The pylon is at the corner of Chambly Rd. and Highway 30. Initially, about 88,000 customers were affected; as of 3 p.m. Sunday, more than 67,750 customers were still without power. Areas that were most affected include St-Hubert, Greenfield Park and St-Bruno.

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Longueuil police spokesperson Ghyslain Vallières said Sunday that two vehicles were involved in the incident and that a police investigation to determine the circumstances was underway. Three people were injured, he said, but none of their lives were in danger. Chambly Rd. remained closed in both directions at midday Sunday, as did the eastbound service road of Highway 30.

Hydro-Québec said crews were working to restore power to as many customers as possible by isolating the section where the pylon is located and using other power sources to feed the affected lines.

The damaged pylon will have to be rebuilt completely, the utility said, and that will take several days.

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Hydro-Québec described the event as highly unusual since vehicles in the area generally travel at low speed and there are guardrails all along the road. A transformer being knocked over is a “one in a million” event, said Hydro-Québec spokesperson Jonathan Côté.

The bus that hit the pylon was carrying volunteer firefighters from the Association des pompiers auxiliaires de la Montérégie; they were en route to a fire and presumably the bus was travelling at considerable speed, Côté said. The vehicle is not a fire truck, but an emergency vehicle used by the volunteer firefighters’ association to assist victims.

Hydro-Québec said it quickly secured the perimeter Saturday night to enable emergency crews to intervene safely with those involved in the crash, since there were live high-tension wires on the ground.

Côté said power was expected to be restored to all affected customers by 5 p.m. Sunday.

When power is restored, he said, residents should not turn air conditioning up to maximum and should refrain from using appliances that consume a lot of energy.

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