Thursday, October 26, around 9 a.m. On the radio, a natural gas leak was announced at the corner of Crémazie and Christophe-Colomb streets. Then nothing… The voice goes out, just like the light. Could the blackout have anything to do with what the news bulletin just reported?
the Journaldesvoisins.com (JDV) contacted Hydro-Québec’s media department regarding the outage in this sector covering the boroughs of Ahuntsic-Cartierville and Villeray–Saint-Michel. “Yes, there was indeed a gas leak,” confirms Jonathan Laporte, Advisor, Community Relations – Montreal. “We received a call from the 911 emergency services requesting that the power be cut off because of the risk of interaction between gas and electricity. »
Going back to the source of the problem, the JDV then contacted Énergir (formerly Gaz Métro). “Around 8:15 a.m., we received a first call to let us know that a third party [individu] hooked a pipe from the gas network. When we arrived, the firefighters were already there,” explains Brigitte Léonard, Head of Public Affairs.
“We requested an artery trip from Hydro-Québec to secure the area around the ramp to Saint-Hubert and Crémazie streets. »
The procedure for triggering an artery consists of cutting the power supply to the sector in which the area of the incident is located, while the work to plug the gas leak is completed. Indeed, a simple spark or electric shock could ignite the fumes in the air and cause an explosion or a fire…
Large closed quadrilateral
To protect the Énergir firefighters and workers, as well as the neighbourhood, electricity to the entire sector was cut, affecting 365 Hydro-Québec customers.
The area was quite large: on either side of boulevard Métropolitain, especially in Villeray–Saint-Michel, but also in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, along rue Saint-Hubert to rue Louvain, including Collège Ahuntsic . Since the Claude-Robillard sports complex was not affected, a few residents of the neighborhood, deprived of electricity, had taken refuge there with their computers.
Recovery and Counseling
“As the ground was already open and the pipe was plastic, the repair was not complicated to carry out,” says Ms. Léonard. Everything was completed by 12:20 p.m. » Electricity returned to homes around 1:15 p.m. Info-breakdowns of Hydro-Québec or on its mobile app.
In conclusion, both Energize thatHydro-Quebec direct individuals or businesses to contact Info-Excavation before digging the ground to plant a tree, put up a fence or unclog sewers, for example.
This free service for locating underground conduits aims to prevent unfortunate breaks in pipes and cables in the gas, electricity or telecommunications networks. Work should never be undertaken before obtaining a report from Info-Excavation confirming the absence of underground infrastructure.
