Blaze causes power cuts

Press, 3 May 1984, Page 1

Blaze causes power cuts

Nelson reporter A blaze which destroyed switchgear in a Ministry of Energy substation last evening may mean that Motueka and some surrounding areas will be without power for 24 hours. An explosion, believed to be caused by a blown-out switch, ripped through the Motueka substation’s switch-room at 5.26 p.m. Switchgear was destroyed in the blaze, cutting power to the town and rural areas. Employees of the department and the Tasman Electric Power Board, which supplies the area, were soon on the scene trying to repair the damage. The acting district manager of the department, Mr John Walkey, said later that it appeared a switch in the switch-room had blown out. Oil, sprayed from the switch, had ignited, and the fire had put all the switchgear out of service. “We are going to have to go through it bit by bit and try and get some of it back into service. At the moment the estimate for restoring normal power supplies is 24 hours,” he said. The switchgear was HkV switchgear and fairly old, said Mr Walkey. The substation fed Motueka, Riwaka, Tasman, and much of the area surrounding Motueka, he said. When the Motueka Fire Service arrived the interior was an inferno, he said. The concrete structure, however, suffered little damage. Nobody was in the building at the time. The chief engineer of the Tasman Power Board, Mr J. E. Coghlan, said his staff were already working on getting supply to the outlying areas, Upper Moutere had already been connected, and it was likely that Tasman would soon be also. Staff would be looking at possibilities of by-passing the Motueka substation to provide other areas with power, he said.