‘The explosion would have been a huge ball of flame!’: Suspected chainsaw hydro pole cutter risked all for little return

London police are looking for a suspect accused of cutting down a hydro pole in south London, causing an outage and explosion. CTV London’s Sean Irvine reports.

Police and London Hydro officials continue their search for information after a high-voltage utility pole was allegedly cut down by a chainsaw, sparking an explosion and widespread power outage.

Hydro officials concede the blast could have seriously harmed or killed the perpetrators.

The incident took place shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday on Exeter Road near Sholto Drive when lines touched, sparking a 27,000-volt blast.

“The explosion would have been a huge ball of flame! It was so intense, and the heat was so, so high,” said Allan Van Damme, VP of engineering and construction at London Hydro.

As fire and line crews contained the blaze, Van Damme said officials worked to assess the damage.

“It became evident very quickly that this was not a normal failure of a component on our grid.”

Hydro later confirmed a chainsaw was used to take the pole down.

Grainy video surveillance images released by police show a suspect, wearing a black hoodie with writing on it and grey sweatpants.

Police want the public to help identify him and their assistance in tracking this 2019 Honda CRV.

Meanwhile, Van Damme conceded that the suspect or suspects are fortunate to be uninjured.

“They are extremely lucky because they would have been standing right in the line of fire as that explosion came down to the ground. So, it appears that they left the site through the surveillance footage and that they made it out alive. But that could have ended very differently.”

The motivation for the act is being investigated by police.

It comes as London Hydro continues to be hit by copper thieves who risk their lives for what Van Damme says is very little return.

Meanwhile, the cost to replace the pole and the transformers has reached $30,000.

Which is why Hydro has made it harder to cash in on stolen copper by providing examples of their wiring and parts to local metal recyclers.

But ultimately, ongoing pubic support will be needed to combat theft, confirmed Van Damme.

“We have 30,000 poles in this city alone. And to stop a guy with a chainsaw who wants to cut a wood pole down is impossible. So, this is the challenge we face.”