Suspected arson fire damages substation on Abbey Road, Popley, Basingstoke

What happened

A substation on Abbey Road in Popley, Basingstoke, England, caught fire at around 3.20 am on Wednesday 15 January 2020. Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service received the call at 3.23 am and sent one crew from Basingstoke. The fire involved one substation and was put out with a fire extinguisher and a hose reel, and the stop message was sent at 4.08 am. The building suffered 10 per cent damage, and the gas company was informed.

Hampshire Constabulary was called just before 4 am and, after the fire was put out, opened a suspected arson investigation. Police appealed for anyone who saw anything suspicious to contact them. The report did not say whether the fire caused a power cut or who operates the substation, and no injuries were mentioned.

Contributing factors

Police treated the fire as suspected arson. No other cause was reported.

Lessons learned

1. Substations in residential areas should have secure fencing and locks and, where the risk is high, intruder detection or CCTV to deter deliberate fire setting.
2. Operators should record and share arson and vandalism attempts, so patterns across sites can be found.
3. Small substation buildings should be built and maintained to limit fire spread, so an external fire does not reach the electrical equipment inside.

Source

basingstokegazette.co.uk