Tshwane Emergency Services responded to a call about an electrical substation in East Lynne that had been on fire earlier this afternoon.

Emergency responders and firefighters from two stations were dispatched to the Koedoespoort substation when the call came in at 12:14.

“Firefighters managed to extinguish the substation as soon as utility services switched off the power supply,” said Tshwane EMS spokesperson, Deputy Chief Charles Mabaso.

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“This rendered it safe to start firefighting operations,” Mabaso continued.

EMS confirmed that the fire had been extinguished later on Friday afternoon and firefighters were busy with cooling operations.

The Tshwane Electricity Department will assess which areas will be affected and the expected timelines for the repairs.

“It is suspected that the cause of the fire might be a grass fire near the substation. Further fire cause determination activities will be carried out by fire safety and law enforcement agencies,” Mabaso concluded.

The mayor addresses resident’s concerns

Also at the scene along with the responders was Tshwane mayor, Cilliers Brink. Brink says power outages were affecting various metro substations.

“This is a result of the power outage affecting Koedoespoort, Kilner Park, Queenswood, Waverley, parts of Moregloed, East Lynne and as far up as Phumulani, Montana and so forth,” Brink stated.

The mayor commended emergency responders on their quick response and disputed the severity of the fire damage as circulated on social media.

“You’ll see compared to the videos circulating on social media the damage is largely contained, but only after the fire has been completely doused and contained can we assess the damage and give a clear indication of when power will be restored to these different communities,” Brink continued.

The Tshwane metro said that they cannot give a timeline currently of when power will be restored to the affected areas though work is being done to speed up the process.

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