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Police to investigate Elgin bin fire after flames ‘melt’ 600 business and home phone lines

An electricity cabinet on Thunderton Place, Elgin melted more than 600 phone lines.  Picture supplied by Openreach.
An electricity cabinet on Thunderton Place, Elgin melted more than 600 phone lines. Picture supplied by Openreach.

Police are investigating a bin fire in Elgin that melted the phone lines of more than 600 businesses and homes.

The fire, which, spread quickly to a telephone control box on Thunderton Place in the town centre, was extinguished by the fire service in the early hours of Sunday morning.

But it was not until later in the week officers confirmed they would be investigating the matter.

On Monday, businesses said they were unable to access online information and in some cases they were unable to take card payments.

‘Disruption caused is too great to be ignored’

Openreach said it would be the end of the week before it was able to get customers reconnected.

One business owner told The P&J that there have been similar incidents that have disrupted business in the town.

The owner of The Ditsy Teacup said: “Given that this isn’t the first incident I feel like there is reason to investigate as to why it’s happening.

“This fire has affected more than 100 businesses and houses and the disruption caused is too great for it to be ignored.”

A police spokeswoman said: “Around 6am on Sunday, 12 June, police received a report of a fire on Thunderton Place in Elgin.

A fire on Thunderstone Place has disrupted phone and internet services in the area.  Supplied by Jasper Images.

“The fire was extinguished by the fire service and no-one was injured as a result of the fire.

“The fire is being treated as wilful and enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances.”

Openreach said it was continuing to work to get every customer restored.

A spokeswoman for Openreach said: “This is a complex repair due to the extent of the damage, which completely destroyed the street cabinet and melted 600 local lines which have to be individually rewired into the network.

Ongoing work to reconnect cables

“This work couldn’t get under way until a replacement cabinet to house the connections had been safely installed.”

She continued: “Work is ongoing to reconnect each cable, with lines progressively restored. This painstaking work will continue today, and possibly into the weekend, until everyone is back in service.

“We’re really sorry for the unexpected break in service – which was beyond our control – and would like to thank residents for their patience while we finish repairs.

“We’d also encourage anyone who spotted anything suspicious to contact the police.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police via 101 quoting incident number 0803 of Sunday, June 12.