Substation explosion causes 18-hour power outage
The outage was due to a transformer which exploded inside the substation.
An explosion at an electrical substation at the Lakeside Village in Modderfontein left numerous residents in the dark on July 2.
The explosion occurred at about 7.30pm.
Ward councillor, Clr Bongani Nkomo, said the outage was due to a transformer which exploded inside the substation.
According to some residents, about a quarter of the homes in the Lakeside Village were without power for more than 18 hours.
Residents said when a generator was finally brought in on Friday, they had to wait again as it was taken to the area without diesel.
Clr Nkomo said it is not clear what caused the explosion, however some residents claim that it was due to lack of maintenance.
The NEWS visited the site and found technicians working on repairing the substation.
The new substation had already been installed.
Clr Nkomo expressed concerns about the wiring that was left open in the old substation, as the doors were removed during the explosion.
“The substation is right next to a park. Children are on holiday and are playing in the park. Imagine what would happen if they come inside with all these wires out in the open?” asked Clr Nkomo.
“Another concern I have is the fire extinguisher in the old substation. It was installed inside the substation and the residents who came out after hearing the explosion had difficulty getting inside the substation and reaching the fire extinguisher. The residents used their own fire extinguishers because they could not get inside the station during the blaze. I don’t understand what the logic is of installing a fire extinguisher inside a substation as it will be difficult to reach when an explosion occurs,” said Clr Nkomo.
“The extinguisher did not look like it had been maintained recently because the date of the last maintenance was around the mid 1990s. That raises another concern as to how often City Power maintains its equipment,” said Clr Nkomo.
Clr Nkomo commended City Power officials for the prompt response to his requests with regards to installing the generator, which was installed the next morning.
The NEWS sent an inquiry to City Power on July 8 and requested comment by July 9.
At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.
