Blast cuts Wainoni power

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33541, 23 May 1974, Page 1

Blast cuts Wainoni power

An M.E.D. sub-station in Breezes Road, Wainoni, exploded just after 5 p.m. yesterday, blowing off a door and cutting power to 1000 consumers.

The blast started a small fire which was quickly put out by firemen using carbon dioxide extinguishers. The photograph shows firemen inside the building; the damaged door is on the right.

Power in the area was not fully restored for an hour and a half.

The explosion in the substation, which is near Avondale Road, occurred after a failure in one unit of the 1100-volt switchgear. A cover over the unit was blown off its hinges. The damaged front door was lying several feet away. Residents and shopkeepers said the noise of the blast could be heard several blocks away. "It went off with terrific force,” said one resident. “I thought at first it was an accident, but I could see parts of the door and the smoke when I looked out the window. It gave us quite a fright.” The owner of a fruit shop nearby said several customers were in the shop when they heard the noise.

"It sounded like a dull thud from here, and then all the lights went out. 1 immediately thought the sub-station had gone up,” he said. "The customers seemed to take it all pretty quietly.”

Firemen from Woolston and Headquarters found the sub-station filled with smoke. They asked bystanders to stay clear as power was later progressively restored through the switchgear. Mr W. G. Johnstone, the M.E.D. ' chief engineer, said that 22 small substations cut out after the explosion. About half of these were working again within 30 minutes, and 21 were restored after an hour.

The last sub-station was working again by 6.39 p.m.

The switchgear would be inspected in daylight to try to discover what caused the failure, he said. The damaged unit would probably have to be replaced.

“It was not a major explosion, but about half the switchgear in the sub-station was damaged.

“We were able to use the other half of the gear to restore the power.” The concrete block substation was built three or four years ago; it did not appear to be damaged structurally.