A north-east man heard an “explosion” seconds before hundreds of homes lost power this afternoon.
Heading outside his home in Kemnay after hearing “three loud bangs”, photographer Mohammed Radzis Mohamad spotted a wooden pole with electrical cables on fire.
Fire crews from Inverurie rushed to the scene to extinguish the blaze and make the scene safe for SSE workers to investigate the damage and restore power supplies.
Lyana Powlesland said her father, Mohammed, was at his home on Boat Croft when he heard a noise outside.
The 25-year-old said: “He heard three loud bangs, then an explosion and the fire started.
“The fire brigade were called to deal with and they had the power back at 6pm. My dad said the fire brigade were doing their job well.
“My dad is a photographer in his spare time so he thought he would go out a get a few pictures.
“The three loud bangs were concerning but apart from that it was all under control.”
According to network operators SSE, the fire was detected in a cable attached to a wooden pole in the Boatcroft area of Kemnay shortly before 3pm.
As a result of the blaze, an automated safety system was triggered which – as well as notifying the control room – turned off power to all nearby customers.
Initially, 530 customers were affected, however, SSE confirmed that power has since been restored to all of the properties.
An investigation will take place into the cause once all homeowners have had their power restored.
A spokesperson from SSEN Distribution said: “We would like to apologise to everyone affected by this afternoon’s power cut and assure them we are doing all we can to restore the power to the remaining customers as safely and as quickly as possible.
The affected postcodes, all in the Ab51 area are listed below.
- AB51 3QA
- AB51 5EG
- AB51 5EW
- AB51 5EZ
- AB51 5GZ
- AB51 5JD
- AB51 5JE
- AB51 5JF
- AB51 5JG
- AB51 5LH
- AB51 5LJ
- AB51 5NA
- AB51 5NB
- AB51 5NL
- AB51 5PZ
- AB51 5QT
- AB51 5QY
- AB51 5QZ
- AB51 5RA
- AB51 5RB
- AB51 5RE
- AB51 5SS