Transformer explodes, cutting power in West Toledo

A traffic crash in West Toledo left hundreds of Toledo Edison customers without power early today, authorities said.

There were no injuries, according to the Lucas County EMS.

Toledo police said a car struck a utility pole on Monroe near Talmadge about 2:55 a.m., causing a transformer to explode.

Toledo Edison spokesman Debbie Paul said the incident left 473 utility customers without power. Utility crews restored power to all the affected customers by 4:18 a.m., she said.

Some traffic lights near Talmadge Road and Sylvania Avenue were still down as of about 10 a.m.

Patrons of the Panera Bread at 4050 Talmadge Road were also inconvenienced when they couldn't get their orders when the power went out, around 9:45 a.m. It caused problems for food production, as the ovens and toasters could not be used. Toledo Fire Rescue appeared on the scene to assess the outage.

The loss of power lasted for 25 minutes, before coming back on. A few minutes later, the lights flashed again, resulting in a power loss for less than one minute. Toledo Fire Rescue officials were working on assessing the reason for the outage, which spanned several businesses on the block.