Florida substation goes up in flames
Some areas still without electricity
An explosion at the Hebbard Street substation in Florida has left one person injured and various areas without electricity. Power should be fully restored within the next 24 hours.
One of the transformers at the substation exploded at about 6.45pm on the evening of 24 April, causing a fire in the transformer bay. This caused a power outage in various areas of Florida, Lea Glen, Robertville, Stormill and Fleurhof. It is believed that one of the security guards who were deployed to guard the substation was also injured. “The guard was injured by the impact of the blast and the ensuing flames and smoke. Our thoughts and prayers are with her. It is believed she is recovering well at a medical facility,” said the councillor for Ward 70, Caleb Finn.
Also read: Power outage as substation burns
City Power technicians, together with the City of Johannesburg Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were immediately dispatched to the scene, and worked tirelessly to put out the fire, and clean the ash and debris from the electrical components. “This allowed them to switch on the second transformer, restoring power to the Florida, Florida North and Florida Glen substations,” Finn said.
Finn added that extensive damage was done to the Lea Glen cable terminals and other components, requiring the attention of a specialised technician. “Unfortunately this will result in a delay in the restoration of the power supply to parts of Fleurhof, Robertville, Stormill and Lea Glen. City Power and CBI (African Cables (contractor)) will work as fast as they can to restore supply to the affected areas.,” he said.
He added that the incident was unexpected and unfortunate. “Transformers can run for years without an issue, but unfortunately, if they cease or explode, the damage is severe,” he said.
City Power’s spokesperson, Virgil James, said that the explosion was caused by a severe fault on the network at the cable termination point. “There are circuit breakers along the network to prevent electrical faults from occurring but in this case it was severe enough to bypass the circuit breakers, resulting in the fire. Technicians suspect that this may have happened due to contractors digging in the area and damaging a high voltage cable,” he said.
He added that, although power has been restored to parts of the affected areas, there are still areas without power. “Lea Glen and especially the industrial areas of Robertville, Stormill and parts of Fleurhof are still without power. According to the area manager, they had to call in specialist technicians to undertake the repairs. It is estimated that power should be restored in the next 24 hours,” James said.
He urged residents and business owners to be patient as the repairs will take a while to complete, and also apologised for any inconvenience caused. “City Power tries to eliminate incidents such as these by undertaking planned power outages to do maintenance and ensure a safe and reliable power supply. However, incidents do occur outside of City Power’s control which may severely affect and disrupt power supply,” he concluded.
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