Toronto city staff to report on causes of September, 2014 City Hall electrical fire
May 12, 2015 by Canadian Underwriter
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A Toronto politician suggested Monday there has been “no report” to City Council on the causes of an explosion last September that damaged electrical infrastructure at City Hall, and city staff are being asked to provide more detail this summer.
“I believe it is important to understand what occurred in City Hall on September 25, 2014, and what steps are undertaken on a regular basis to ensure electrical infrastructure in City buildings are in a good state of repair,” wrote Janet Davis, vice chair of the government management committee, which met Monday.
That committee voted Monday to request that the chief corporate officer consult with Toronto Hydro-Electric System Ltd. and report to the government management committee Aug. 31 on “findings related to the cause, costs and repairs undertaken” as a result of the electrical explosion and fire Sept. 25, 2014.
“Temporary generators provided power to City Hall for several weeks,” after that fire, a summary of Davis’s motion notes. Davis is councillor for Ward 31, which encompasses an area north of Danforth Ave. and west of Victoria Park Ave. The government management committee is comprised of six of Toronto’s 44 city councillors.
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The electrical failure last year was one factor in a 5.6% rate increase, for boiler and machinery insurance, written by RSA, deputy city manager and chief financial officer Roberto Rossini suggested in a separate report submitted earlier to the government management committee.
City Council approved May 5 a recommendation by Rossini to renew several policies starting June 1, which were sourced by commercial brokerage Marsh Canada Ltd.
RSA is increasing its premium, for boiler and machinery coverage, by 5.6% on renewal “to account for the 1.8% increase in insured values and due to the 2014 electrical failure incident at City Hall,” Rossini wrote in his report, though he added “terms from competing insurers verify that the premium remains extremely competitive.”
In its May 11 meeting, the government management committee voted to request that the chief corporate officer, in consultation with Toronto hydro, report on “the inventory of City of Toronto buildings with interior hydro vaults, including agencies, the standard program of maintenance, roles and responsibilities of the City and Toronto Hydro with respect to this maintenance.”
The chief corporate officer is also being asked to report on “other known hydro vault explosions in Toronto, and their causes.”
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