Transformer explodes on Sydney's upper north shore

Australian Community Media

A high voltage transformer caught alight in Turramurra causing a power outage.

Transcript

00:00You've got to go down there so you can get better view on the side.

00:03I know, yeah.

00:13We responded six firetrucks, 22 firefighters to reports of this electrical transformer,

00:19or what we know in Sydney as a kiosk.

00:2211,000 volts had exploded and was well alight.

00:26When our firetrucks arrived on scene, they were confronted with that significant fire activity,

00:31the intense heat starting to travel and spread up into the adjoining telegraph pole here and the wires above.

00:37The concern we have here, extremely dangerous fire, these types of fires being an electrical kiosk

00:43with 11,000 volts or 11 kV is the electricity.

00:47Electricity is the silent killer, so precautions have to be taken to keep our firefighters safe,

00:52but at the same time stabilise the situation and put this fire out.

00:57So they position themselves a distance away and they use thick water fogs,

01:01so there was no constant stream that any electricity could travel back to them,

01:06to actually cool the surrounding areas.

01:08And one of those was the telegraph pole that we've got in the background there.

01:12That actually had caught fire, but firefighters were able to extinguish that and then keep it cool,

01:18so that did not reignite, and that includes the wires above.

01:22That's all critical infrastructure for the local community.

01:25The power was knocked out to a number of homes and it's slowly being reinstalled by the electrical authority.

01:31It took us about 40 minutes to get this fire contained and knocked down,

01:36but we can't get in until the electrical authority attends and actually confirms that the power is off

01:42and there's no killing electricity around to hurt our firefighters.

01:47So that was pretty quick in the scheme of things.

01:49Then we were able to move in and actually make sure we did have complete extinguishment.

01:54These transformers do have or carry a significant amount of cooling oil that can also catch fire.

02:01It's not a flammable liquid, so it's not as volatile as a petrol,

02:04but it is a combustible oil that can ignite with enough feed.

02:08By the residents and the people in the area were telling us about explosions,

02:14intense fire activity that was a concern.

02:17The street was closed off.

02:18We sent the six fire trucks, including the bulk water tankers,

02:21so we could actually keep getting a lot of water onto the fire area and contain it

02:27without putting hose lines across the street and blocking off all those alternate routes

02:32that were implemented by police to divert the traffic.

02:35Now, the cause of the fire this morning is being investigated,

02:39and it looks like this actual fire may have ignited after a vehicle has collided with the transformer at that time.

02:47You can see where the transformer has been dislodged off its pad, off its platform,

02:52and we're actually believing, talking to the techs, that this probably caused a short circuit in the kiosk itself,

03:00causing this significant and rapid fire development.

03:04But a positive story out of this, as you can see, right next to the fire,

03:08without the intervention of firefighters in their firefighting efforts,

03:12this would have continued to burn, and we would have lost this nice little bit of convenience for the people,

03:19particularly the kids, this is on the back, lots of children's books in here, people have donated.

03:24So, you know, a little save, but an important save to the kids that come and visit this area,

03:29no doubt quite often, looking at the number of books that are in here.

03:32So, well done to the firefighters that had sent it last night,

03:35and thank you to the community for their patience.

03:37They've been wonderful this morning, particularly as a number of them still have the power out.

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