Johannesburg - A third fire in two months has broken out at a City Power substation.
Last night the Florida Glen substation went up in flames, plunging several suburbs into darkness.
On April 21, the Ennerdale substation burnt down and two weeks later, the Bryanston one was razed.
City Power spokeswoman Yumna Sheik said she could not at this stage confirm whether the fires were related, but said the utility was investigating the cause of the fires.
The suburbs of Industria North, Delarey, Florida Glen, Whiteridge and Bergbron have been without power since midnight and Sheik said it was expected that power would be restored by this evening, but could not give an exact time.
“The whole transformer burnt out, so it is going to take a while.
“We are doing our best to restore the power in affected areas; we trust that the situation will be normalised in due course.
“The technicians have been on site for a few hours already.
“We are committed to resolving this issue as the interest of our customers comes first.
“We wish to apologise in advance for any inconvenience customers may experience.”
Sheik said the Ennerdale and Bryantson substation fires were caused by technical faults.
City Power said it would keep customers updated throughout the day on its website www.citypower.co.za and Twitter: @CityPowerjhb.
Customers experiencing loss of power can call the City of Joburg call centre at 0860 562 874 or log a call on City Power's website at www.citypower.co.za, by clicking on “Fault Logging”.
@annacox
The Star