Blazing substation forces evacuation

POWER was cut to homes after the fire wrecked equipment

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Power cut to homes

HOMES were evacuated in Werneth after an electrical substation caught fire.

Thick black smoke billowed from the Richmond substation in Richmond Walk, on the West Street estate, when it caught fire on Saturday.

About 30 homes on three streets, including Richmond Walk, were cordoned off by police, who advised householders to leave their homes and close all windows and doors.

Residents reported seeing flames shooting up from the blaze and the black smoke could be seen from as far away as the town centre.

Yasmin Din, from Richmond Walk, said: “Everyone thought it would explode.

“There was a thick black cloud of smoke and flames. It was dangerous.

“I was frightened at the time, we were lucky no one was injured.

“The fire and police were here in minutes, they did a good job.”

Fire crews from Oldham and Chadderton were called at 2.13pm but had to wait until 5pm so engineers from United Utilties could attend and isolate the power supply to the substation.

A fire officer from Oldham said: “The substation was well alight when we arrived, it was very spectacular.

“We were at the Spindles Shopping Centre at the time and could see the smoke from there.”

Residents were unable to re-enter their homes until after 4pm, and the power supply was only restored at around 6pm.

Neighbour Paul Jackson (34) said: “I was out on Saturday afternoon but when I came back everything was blocked off which was a real surprise, so I had to go to my mother-in-laws.

“The electricity was back by 6pm.”

The cause of the blaze is under investigation but fire crews initially believe it to be an electrical fault.

A spokesman for United Utilities said: “We isolated the substation and reconnected all properties on to a different network.

“The substation will stay off the network until it is safe to reconnect again.

“Engineers at the scene said there was no danger to the public or to the network.”

United Utilities was also able to reconnect the electricity supply to near-by Richmond School, which opened as normal today.