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| Homes get power back after fire | Homes get power back after fire |
| (about 15 hours later) | |
| Electricity has been restored to thousands of homes after a fire in a 33,000 volt sub-station transformer. | Electricity has been restored to thousands of homes after a fire in a 33,000 volt sub-station transformer. |
| Power company Western Power says the cause of the fire in the Ravenhill area of Swansea is under investigation. | Power company Western Power says the cause of the fire in the Ravenhill area of Swansea is under investigation. |
| At one point on Sunday about 10,000 homes were without electricity, although that fell to 3,000 before it was returned to all by the evening. | At one point on Sunday about 10,000 homes were without electricity, although that fell to 3,000 before it was returned to all by the evening. |
| One local resident described how he had seen a big black ball of smoke and flames from the sub-station. | One local resident described how he had seen a big black ball of smoke and flames from the sub-station. |
| More of the homes were taken off supply at the request of the fire service while they tackled the blaze. | More of the homes were taken off supply at the request of the fire service while they tackled the blaze. |
| An eye-witness, Ed Jackson, who lives about 200 yards from the sub-station, realised there was a problem when he saw his fish tank lights were off. | An eye-witness, Ed Jackson, who lives about 200 yards from the sub-station, realised there was a problem when he saw his fish tank lights were off. |
| He said he looked out of the window and saw the ball of smoke. I went to the front door and looked up the street and I could just see this big ball of flames going up in the air Eye-witness Ed Jackson | He said he looked out of the window and saw the ball of smoke. I went to the front door and looked up the street and I could just see this big ball of flames going up in the air Eye-witness Ed Jackson |
| He described it as if car tyres were being burnt, then heard a thudding noise, and at first he thought there had been a plane crash. | He described it as if car tyres were being burnt, then heard a thudding noise, and at first he thought there had been a plane crash. |
| "I went to the front door and looked up the street and I could just see this big ball of flames going up in the air," he said. | "I went to the front door and looked up the street and I could just see this big ball of flames going up in the air," he said. |
| "So I ran up the road and got up to the traffic lights and at the back of Spar there are two big sub-stations and flames were going up 60 to 70 feet and black smoke was billowing up. | "So I ran up the road and got up to the traffic lights and at the back of Spar there are two big sub-stations and flames were going up 60 to 70 feet and black smoke was billowing up. |
| "Then the fire engines stared coming up the hill. | "Then the fire engines stared coming up the hill. |
| "They got it under control quite quickly and then it just went back up again when the water stopped." | "They got it under control quite quickly and then it just went back up again when the water stopped." |
| Temporary dam | Temporary dam |
| The sub-station houses two large generators and the major concern was hundreds of gallons of oil on the site with homes and shops extremely near, but but fire-fighting foam was eventually used to smother the flames. | The sub-station houses two large generators and the major concern was hundreds of gallons of oil on the site with homes and shops extremely near, but but fire-fighting foam was eventually used to smother the flames. |
| Nobody was injured and a spokesman for Western Power said early checks pointed to an accident, with no vandalism or any other suspicious indications. | Nobody was injured and a spokesman for Western Power said early checks pointed to an accident, with no vandalism or any other suspicious indications. |
| At one point a temporary dam was created to prevent contaminated water reaching local water courses. | At one point a temporary dam was created to prevent contaminated water reaching local water courses. |
| The work to replace the damaged generator is likely to take six weeks, but power supplies will be maintained using temporary generators. | The work to replace the damaged generator is likely to take six weeks, but power supplies will be maintained using temporary generators. |
| Some 7,000 homes were without power for an hour, while the other 3,000 lost it for two-and-a-half hours. | Some 7,000 homes were without power for an hour, while the other 3,000 lost it for two-and-a-half hours. |
| You sent us your experiences of the incident: | |
| I live about 5 minutes from incident, power was restored about 6.30 pm here, all roads surrounding the area were closed for a hour or two and local shops etc had to close.Mark, Swansea | |
| My whole street in port mead was out talking, loads were saying that they were in middle of cooking their Sunday lunch,I i have an electric cooker so was worried how to cook food for me and my children so I started up a bbq but realised I couldn't buy any food for it as all the shops in the area were shut including Tescos in Forestfach, someone's sister had phoned the council and we was told it would be at least 3 days before it was put back on so you can imagine the uproar and panic. I was concerned becasue my mother was living right by the fire and I couldnt get in touch with her, my mobile had run out of battery and all our phones are cordless so no luck there, then after a while some people were saying that it was back on in gendros and sometime later ours was back on too, it just goes to show just how much we rely on electricity.claire rolfe, swansea | |
| Parc Fforestfach and and Pontardulais down the road from the fire lost power to all stores and had to evacuate and close down the stores as soon as possible. power was restored at aprox 4.20 but problems are on going in most stores. normal service is not expected to resume until mid day tomorrow. anon, swansea |