Fire at Bree substation cuts power across Johannesburg CBD

What happened

A fire broke out in the early hours at the Bree substation in central Johannesburg, cutting electricity supply to large parts of the city centre including Newtown, Braamfontein, Bank City and Marshalltown. City Power, the municipal electricity utility, said the substation would remain switched off until safety inspections, damage assessments and risk evaluations were complete. Three floors of a residential building situated above the substation were evacuated as a precaution after sections of the concrete roofing were found to be deteriorating and falling.

The site remained hazardous due to residual heat, boiling transformer oil, smoke and carbon fumes, preventing teams from entering to assess the damage or begin a formal cause investigation. Structural engineers and labour department inspectors attended to assess the condition of the facility and surrounding buildings. Over 500 outage calls were logged by residents and businesses.

Contributing factors

Not reported. The formal investigation into the cause of the fire had not begun at the time of reporting, pending safety clearance to enter the substation.

Lessons learned

1. A fire at a substation beneath a residential building needs pre-set evacuation and structural checks before teams enter.
2. Residual heat, boiling oil and fumes after a substation fire block entry, so plan for delayed assessments.
3. A substation fire that stops supply needs clear public updates while access is blocked.

More lessons on structural integrity and turbines, outages, backup supply and restoration, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

• Cause of the fire
• Duration of the power outage
• Cost of damage and repairs

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

timeslive.co.za