Earlier today, a power outage swept across UTSC campus, affecting food services, lecture buildings, and residences. UTSC announced the power outage at 11:38 am this morning, and announced at 1:48 pm that power had been restored to affected buildings.
The outage has affected a number of buildings across campus, including the Humanities Wing (HW), Academic Resource Center, Bladen Wing (BV), Social Science Building, Highland Hall, and South Residences including Joan Foley Hall.
Around noon, a fire alarm went off in HW and SW buildings, leading to evacuations in the buildings. There appeared to be no danger, and students soon afterward returned to the building.
In a statement to the Star, a UTSC spokesperson stated the outage was the “result of a novel equipment problem” that also triggered the fire alarms.
All classes scheduled in these buildings before 3:00 pm were canceled. The university has announced that some buildings may experience after effects during the afternoon, but classes and term tests scheduled after 3:00 pm will continue as planned.
Some parts of Science Wing (SW) were also without lighting during the outage, but classes in SW proceeded as scheduled.
In terms of food, the Marketplace and Tim Hortons in BV closed due to the power outage. Food services at Starbucks, the Student Centre, La Prep and Harmony Commons all remain available.
While power has been restored, as of 1:48 pm, impacted food services are still closed and will take time to be up and running.
Library services were temporarily unavailable during the power outage, but some study spaces remained open. In its later announcement, the university confirmed that library services at UTSC are once again available.
Editor’s note (October 23): This article was updated to reflect an announcement at 1:48 from U of T that power was restored to buildings.
Editor’s note (October 24): This article was updated to mention the fire alarms that went off around noon, and the reason behind the power outage and fire alarms.
