Transformer fire in Şanlıurfa's Eyyübiye district extinguished after power cut

What happened

A fire broke out at an electricity transformer in the Muradiye neighbourhood of Eyyübiye district, in the central area of Şanlıurfa, Turkey, on 1 March 2016. The cause had not been identified at the time of reporting. Nearby residents noticed the fire and alerted the fire service and the local distribution company, Dicle Elektrik Dağıtım AŞ (DEDAŞ). Fire crews from Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality could not start firefighting straight away because electricity to the transformer had not been cut.

Once the supply was isolated, the crews brought the fire under control after about an hour. The transformer was damaged. Residents complained that DEDAŞ had not cut the power despite early calls, which they said delayed the response. The report does not give injuries, customer outages or repair timescales.

Contributing factors

The transformer remained energised, so firefighters could not intervene until the supply was isolated. Residents said that early calls to DEDAŞ did not lead to a timely power cut. The ignition source was not identified in the report.

Lessons learned

1. Operators should have a fast, documented procedure for isolating supply to a burning transformer, so that fire crews are not kept waiting.
2. Emergency services need a direct contact route to the network control room, with a target response time for isolation requests.
3. Fault and isolation calls should be logged with times, so delays can be investigated and fed into inspection and maintenance planning.

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

Source

m.haber7.com