A high voltage transformer caught alight in Turramurra causing a power outage.
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00:00You have 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 stabilize 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.
01:20And 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 and it looks like this actual fire
02:42may 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 and 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.
03:20This is on the back.
03:21Lots of children's books in here.
03:23People 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 attended last night
03:35and thank you to the community for their patience.
03:37They've been wonderful this morning,
03:39particularly as a number of them still have the power out.