Fires and explosions at Ephrata substation cut power to thousands

What happened

On Wednesday 15 February 2017, at about 7.00 pm, a fire broke out at a substation in downtown Ephrata, Washington, according to the Grant County Sheriff. Videos posted to social media showed flames rising from the substation and flashes of light, and residents reported loud explosions. The outage affected about 8,000 customers in Ephrata, Quincy and Soap Lake. Power was restored to Quincy and Soap Lake about 45 minutes later.

Grant County Public Utilities District crews spent several hours rerouting supply from other sources. At 11.00 pm about 1,800 customers in the Ephrata area were still without power, with full restoration expected by about 3.00 am. An adjacent utility building also caught fire. Officials said no one was hurt. The cause of the initial fire had not been established when the report was published.

Contributing factors

PUD officials said the fire appears to have started in a transformer, which then caused an arc flash and several explosions that sparked further fires. The cause of the initial fault had not been identified.

Lessons learned

1. Transformer faults can escalate quickly into arc flash and multiple explosions, so operators should assess the fire and explosion risk of transformers.
2. Utilities should plan alternative supply routes so that customers can be re-energised quickly while the damaged equipment is isolated.
3. Emergency communication should include clear public guidance, such as keeping roads clear and staying indoors, to protect people near an energised or burning substation.

More lessons on worker safety and safe systems of work, electrical protection and isolation, emergency response and public communication, from every incident on the register.

Source

komonews.com