The lights are coming back on for 9000 Torontonians left in the dark on & gloomy & grey Wednesday.

Power was knocked out just after 1pm, thanks to a transformer fire at 111 St Clair Ave W.

The fire was quickly contained, but when the power at the building was turned off, it hit a big area bordered by Old Spadina Rd to the west, Bayview to the east,  Summerhill to the south & Merton to the north.  The lights started to come back on just before 3pm.

Many shops & all the banks near Yonge & St. Clair went dark during the outage.  Toronto Police directed traffic at Yonge & St. Clair & Toronto Fire had to rescue several people stuck in elevators nearby.

There were 30 people in the dining room at Didier on Yonge when the lights went out.  Maitre d Stevan says no one panicked & the diners seemed to actually relish being able to take their time getting back to work.  But the restaurant had to put Wednesday's specials on hold.  Instead of potato & leek soup, pickerel in a beurre blanc sauce or  lemon soufflé, Didier diners had to fill up on salad & bread.

A few doors down at Fiorio Salon, Fabio was cutting a client's hair into a bob when the power went out.  Fabio was able to finish the job with the light from the salon's big windows.  His client went home rattled & with a free haircut.  Clients in the salon's back room had their hair colour washed out by iPhone light.

For many people working in office buildings near Yonge & St. Clair the power outage meant an afternon off work.  Ashley was struggling to get home.  Subway service on the TTC continued during the outage, but with no access to local ATMs & en empty wallet, Ashley had no way to pay her fare.

Gordon was 2/3 of the way through a medical certification exam when the power went out.  He'd been studying for weeks & had taken the day off work to write it.  Gordon isnt' sure if he'll have to start over.  The certification is only held every 6 months.

**With files from Dave Bradley