Excavator hits power line at LRT construction site causing dramatic sparks
A fire at a Stage 2 LRT construction site in the west end caused some power to flicker Saturday morning.
Video shared to a local neighbourhood Facebook group shows a small, bright fire in the pit where construction on the western expansion of the Confederation Line is taking place near Byron and Woodroffe avenues.
Barbara Fogarty Ferguson described seeing multiple bright flashes of light from the scene.
"First, I saw a huge flash that lit up the entire apartment. I jumped up to look out the window and saw the fire," she told CTV News Ottawa. "I could hear the sizzle from having the patio door opened. The fire seemed to die down at times and then it would get very, very bright again, sometimes so bright that I wasn't able to look directly at it."
Jamie Robinson, the director of communications and stakeholder engagement for the contractor working on site, Kiewit-Eurovia-Vinci, said a worker hit a power line with an excavator at around 7:30 a.m., causing some dramatic sparking, but crews quickly got the situation under control. Power was briefly interrupted to one Hydro Ottawa customer on Robertson Road, he said.
Some residents in the area reported their lights flickering briefly Saturday morning, but there was no larger outage reported.
The Ottawa Fire Service said firefighters were called to the scene but did not have to put out a fire. Ottawa paramedics confirmed no one was injured.
The site is where the future New Orchard Station will be built on the western leg of the LRT, set to open in late 2026.
A similar incident took place last November, when a crane at the same construction site hit a power line, briefly knocking out power to nearby residents.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trudeau's 2024: Did the PM become less popular this year?
Justin Trudeau’s numbers have been relatively steady this calendar year, but they've also been at their worst, according to tracking data from CTV News pollster Nik Nanos.
Manhunt underway after woman, 23, allegedly kidnapped, found alive in river
A woman in her 20s who was possibly abducted by her ex is in hospital after the car she was in plunged into the Richelieu River.
Toronto firefighters rescue man who fell into sinkhole in Yorkville
A man who fell into a sinkhole in Yorkville on a snowy Friday night in Toronto has been rescued after being stuck in the ground for roughly half an hour.
Overheated immigration system needed 'discipline' infusion: minister
An 'overheated' immigration system that admitted record numbers of newcomers to the country has harmed Canada's decades-old consensus on the benefits of immigration, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said, as he reflected on the changes in his department in a year-end interview.
Death toll in attack on Christmas market in Germany rises to 5 and more than 200 injured
Germans on Saturday mourned both the victims and their shaken sense of security after a Saudi doctor intentionally drove into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers, killing at least five people, including a small child, and wounding at least 200 others.
Wild boar hybrid identified near Fort Macleod, Alta.
Acting on information, an investigation by the Municipal District of Willow Creek's Agricultural Services Board (ASB) found a small population of wild boar hybrids being farmed near Fort Macleod.
Summer McIntosh makes guest appearance in 'The Nutcracker'
Summer McIntosh made a splash during her guest appearance in The National Ballet of Canada’s production of 'The Nutcracker.'
22 people die in a crash between a passenger bus and a truck in Brazil
A crash between a passenger bus and a truck early Saturday killed 22 people on a highway in Minas Gerais, a state in southeastern Brazil, officials said.
Back on air: John Vennavally-Rao on reclaiming his career while living with cancer
'In February, there was a time when I thought my career as a TV reporter was over,' CTV News reporter and anchor John Vennavally-Rao writes.