AN INVESTIGATION has begun into what caused a serious blaze at an Evesham substation which left hundreds of homes without power overnight.
Crews from Hereford and Worcester Fire Service were called to Bewdley Street, near the Ruby Jacks pub, at about 6.10pm on Saturday (December 12) as four engines tackled the huge blaze resulting in homes and businesses being evacuated.
After tackling the fire for over three hours, it was eventually put out by fire crews who then gave engineers from Western Power Distribution the all clear to enter the substation.
418 homes were left without power as a result of the blaze, but electricity was restored at about 6am this morning (December 13) as backup generators were brought in and will remain until the substation is up and running again.
At one point over 3000 homes were affected by intermittent power cuts, including one of the town’s largest supermarkets, Tesco, which had to be evacuated after they lost power.
Repair works are ongoing at the torched substation as engineers begin to look into what caused the blaze, but a spokesperson from Western Power Distribution said it is too early to say what the cause was.
14 people were assessed for smoke inhalation by paramedics from West Midlands Ambulance Service, they were all later discharged at the scene.
One eyewitness who was at the scene told the Observer the area had been evacuated and cordoned off.
“I went to the Chinese and parked the car at the same time people were rushing out of the Ruby Jacks,” she said.
“There was some smoke visible from behind, I got out and then the police and fire arrived.
“It seemed like a long time before they were able to start tackling the fire and in a matter of minutes large red flames could be seen along with several loud bangs.
“An exclusion zone was set up and evacuation of various buildings started.”
