Transformer fire leaves more than 2,000 Telford homes without power
More than 2,000 households in Telford were at risk of waking up with no power on Thursday morning after a fire of an electricity transformer.
The small fire at the top of electricity pole in Arleston Manor Drive occurred at just after 4am and knocked out 2,235 homes in the Wellington area.
While Shropshire Fire and Rescue said they despatched a fire engine to the Arleston Manor site at around 4.25am, but spokesperson said the fire was out on their arrival and the incident was left in the hands of the power company.
While more than 2,000 were affected by the blackout, Western Power, said 1,389 houses in the Barn Farm, Kingsland and Herbert Avenue area had their power restored within "one minute" using a process called "switching", where electricity is re-routed around the fault.
Another 718 customers living in the Bluebell Manor area had power restored at 5.09am, and a further 196 customers in the Sinclair Gardens area had electricity supplies back by 4.53am following a second "switching" operation.
This left 32 customers off supply while National Grid engineers repaired a fault on the overhead electricity network in the Arleston area.
The fault was repaired and all electricity supplies were back on at 7.36am, although a short interruption during this repair temporarily affected 736 customers in the Arleston Lane and Bluebell Manor area.
The spokesperson added that they were looking into what caused the fire, but said: "Faults on the overhead electricity network can be caused by objects like branches or other debris blowing onto, or making contact with, power lines.
