Video shows explosion at Windsor city hall causing power outage

The explosion and transformer fire at city all in Windsor, Ont., on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2024. (Drew Dilkens/Facebook)

Windsor’s mayor is sharing a video of an explosion and fire at city hall that caused the power to go out.

City hall buildings are still without power Wednesday after the fire on Tuesday morning.

The incident halted services operated out of 350 City Hall Square and 400 City Hall Square.

The city opened 350 City Hall Square, but not the adjacent 400 City Hall Square building on Wednesday.

The power outage cut service to both buildings. The outage was originally deemed a blown transformer, but further investigation found it to be a cable failure in an underground conduit. Crews worked all day Tuesday and have been able to restore power to 350 City Hall but additional work is required to fully restore power to the 400 building so it will remain closed all day Wednesday.

Services impacted by the on-going closure of the 400 building Wednesday include the Provincial Offences Courts, Service Ontario and Service Canada. Municipal Staff who would normally work in the 400 building will again be asked to work from home where possible.

On Wednesday, mayor Drew Dilkens posted to social media a video of the explosion showing the moment power was lost.

Dilkens says crews are working hard to restore power at 400 City Hall Square.

He says thankfully no one was hurt.