Fire crews tackle electrical substation fire in Northampton

Firefighters battled through the night to put out a fire at an electrical substation in Northampton last night.

The service was called at 9.15pm yesterday (April 15) to Semilong Road and upon arrival it was apparent that the substation was fully involved in a fire.

Appliances from Mereway, Moulton and The Mounts attended and began with the task of dousing the flames, while a crew from Kettering was also mobilised.

Twelve people from a small block of flats and a house were evacuated for their safety, and thankfully no-one was harmed during the blaze. Northamptonshire Police was called to the scene due to a crowd gathering nearby, and Western Power also attended as the owners of the substation.

Crews used a 7.3 metre ladder, two hose reel jets, two monitors, thermal imaging cameras, dammit mats and two breathing apparatus in their bid to bring the flames under control.

The cause of the fire has been established as an accidental electrical fire, and the two 11,000 volt substations were completely destroyed during the incident. An adjacent property also had heat damage to the guttering, fascias and windows.

The fire crew left Semilong Road at 2.13am this morning after the fire was fully extinguished and scans showed the heat of the building had dropped to 35 degrees. The incident was then handed over to Western Power.

Group commander Jason Urbani said: “Our first thought is always about the protection and safety of our residents and their properties, so we are glad that no-one was injured during this incident. We would like to thank those residents who were evacuated from their homes for their co-operation.

“Fires at substations can represent significant challenges because there is oil on the scene, and when combined with electricity and fire that can present quite a hazard. This was made harder by the substation’s proximity to these homes on Semilong Road.

“But our firefighters responded brilliantly to bring the incident under control and I want to thank them all for their hard work last night.”