Homeowner’s Vivid Account of Smart Meter Explosion in Ontario

Earlier this week, SmartGridAwareness.org reported on a ‘Ball of Fire’ from a Smart Meter Explosion at a home in Ontario, Canada.

Veronica Onyskiw was interviewed on Talk Radio AM 640 in Toronto yesterday regarding the smart meter explosion that resulted in what she refers to as a “huge ball of fire” emanating from the side of her home.

Quotes from Veronica Onyskiw:

“I looked out the back window in time to see the reflection of this huge ball of fire; it lit up the back garage, the entire back yard, and I could see red sparks reflected in the glass windows of the garage. …  I was terrified.”

“What is this?  What happened [Veronica said to the fire department responders]?  They said it’s your hydro meter.  He said you have a smart meter.”

“This is a very real and a very serious problem. … I think it requires a full government investigation.  We all have these things attached to our homes.”

“If our house had been a wooden structure and not a brick structure, the fire captain told us our house would be gone and we wouldn’t be alive.  Now that’s a pretty serious fire risk in my opinion.”

“None of us were asked our permission to have these things put in.”

Exploding smart meter heats up Queen’s Park

An exploding smart meter prompted a grilling of Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli Thursday in the Ontario legislature.

Energy Minister File PhotoProgressive Conservative MPP John Yakabuski questioned the safety of the devices after one charred the outside of a brick home this past Sunday.

“If a smart meter in Collingwood could catch fire and explode despite your assurances, how do we know there are not tens of thousands more just like it in the province of Ontario, waiting to go off?” Yakabuski said during Question Period.

Yakabuski said smart meters, which were installed on homes across the province at the order of the Ontario government, have failed to produce the promised savings through time-of-use electricity pricing.

“Now we learn that these devices may burn without warning and burn a ratepayer’s house down,” he said, demanding to know the government’s plan of action in response to the incident.

Pemier Wynne PhotoOntario Premier Kathleen Wynne says that if there turn out to be any “systemic” concerns with smart meters following the Collingwood smart meter fire the government will address them.

“I don’t know the technical problems there but they will do a review and we will get that information back and you know if there’s anything systemic about what happened there then we will look at it, but I just don’t have enough information to comment on it at this point,” she added.