People living on a St. Vital street had a scary incident Wednesday that prompted calls to 911.
And those affected said the problem began with Manitoba Hydro.
Holly Stusiak was in her house on Springside Drive when it happened.
“I heard a big bang and I came out of the room and there was a bunch of smoke,” she said.
She grabbed her dog, ran out the door and called for help.
When firefighters arrived on scene they determined there was no fire and the smoke was coming from Stusiak’s furnace, which was damaged by a power surge.
A television that was on at the time was also smoking and Stusiak is worried other appliances may have also been damaged.
She said the incident scared her.
“About 10 firemen ran in and went throughout the house,” she said, “And they came back and said there was just smoke and no fire. A couple neighbours came out and said they didn’t have power either so they went over to their houses and started checking their houses out.”
Manitoba Hydro said a faulty transformer surged a few times before failing and about 10 to 20 homes were affected.
They dispatched a crew to replace the faulty equipment.
Residents are now wondering who will foot the bill for damaged appliances.
Hydro said it will only foot the bill if it turns out to be human error on the part of one of their employees.
"We'll investigate the issue. They need to get their appliances or tvs, etc. fixed at some point or replaced so they should go ahead and do that and then we'll discuss subsequently whether they qualify for payment or not,” said Glenn Schneider from Manitoba Hydro.
Manitoba Hydro says anyone left with damages from the power surge should contact the St. Boniface district office to find out if they will be covered.
