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Substation fire in Selly Oak causes power cut Substation fire in Selly Oak causes power cut
(about 7 hours later)
About 20,000 homes suffered a power cut after a fire at a Birmingham substation. About 49,000 properties lost power after a Birmingham substation fire.
Western Power Distribution said the fire broke out at a primary substation near Battery Park, in Selly Oak. Western Power Distribution said the fire on Tuesday evening broke out at a primary substation near Battery Park, Selly Oak.
The power cut forced the closure of Bristol Road between Bournbrook Road and Harborne Lane, affecting traffic and street lights, police said. Homes and businesses in Edgbaston, Selly Oak, Harborne and Bournville were among those affected by the power cut.
Homes in Edgbaston, Selly Oak and Harborne were among those affected by the outage. It led to the temporary closure of Bristol Road between Bournbrook Road and Harborne Lane as traffic lights were also affected.
London Midland said trains were suspended between Birmingham New Street and Longbridge because of a "major lineside fire" at Selly Oak. Crews from four fire engines dealt with the blaze.
Crews in four fire engines dealt with the blaze after being alerted at about 20:30 GMT. Generators given
Western Power, which handles electricity distribution for the Midlands, said its engineers were at the substation with fire crews but so far had been unable to get inside. London Midland said trains were suspended between Birmingham New Street and Longbridge because of the fire at Selly Oak, but services were operating as normal on Wednesday morning.
A spokesman for the firm said: "We are working to try and restore power to these properties and some have already seen their power restored." Western Power, which handles electricity distribution for the Midlands, said power was lost at about 20:20 GMT on Tuesday and the vast majority of properties had supplies restored by 22:30 GMT.
Selly Oak neighbourhood policing unit said power to most homes in its area was restored by 21:30 GMT. It said generators had been given to the University of Birmingham, where parts of the campus were still without supplies at about 08:00 GMT on Wednesday, but power had been restored to all other properties in the city.
About 26,000 of them had their supplies back within three minutes, Western Power said.
A spokesman added that two 132,000 volt cables at the substation were damaged by the fire and investigations into the cause would take place later.
He said: "We want to apologise for the inconvenience. We understand it is difficult, especially as it was into the evening.
"I would praise the work from our team and the fire service, who were there very quickly and were very co-operative with us."
West Midlands Police said there was nothing to suggest the fire was crime related.