City Power probes second fire at Central Substation in two weeks

City Power is investigating a second fire at its Central Substation in Johannesburg within two weeks, with preliminary indications pointing to possible theft and vandalism of electrical infrastructure.

The latest fire broke out at about 01:00 on Tuesday, affecting electricity supply to parts of Marshalltown, City and Suburban, as well as areas supplied through Fox Street East, Anderson Street East, Grahamstown Street, Marshall Street East, Market Street East and Commissioner Street East.

The entire Selby Substation has also been affected, resulting in outages in The View and surrounding parts of the Reuven Service Delivery Centre supply area.

Emergency services responded to the fire and restricted access to the underground cable tunnels while smoke continued to emerge from the affected area. City Power technicians were only allowed into the tunnels after the area was declared safe.

The fire has since been extinguished and technical teams are assessing the extent of the damage, including the equipment and materials needed to carry out repairs.

City Power general manager for public relations and communication Isaac Mangena said the repeated incidents were a serious concern.

“City Power is gravely concerned about the repeated fires and suspected criminal activity affecting critical electricity infrastructure at Central Substation. These incidents place employees and members of the public at risk, cause extensive damage to the network and prolong electricity interruptions for customers,” Mangena said.

He said preliminary indications suggested the latest fire could be linked to theft and vandalism in the underground cable tunnels, although the cause remained subject to a formal investigation.

Mop-up operations and further assessments are expected to continue, after which the necessary materials will be sourced and repair work will begin.

City Power said it would provide an estimated restoration time once technicians had a clearer understanding of the damage and repair requirements.

The utility acknowledged customers' frustration after electricity was restored on Monday evening following the initial outage, only for another fire to cause further interruptions early on Tuesday.

Mangena urged affected customers to remain patient while technical teams work to restore supply.

Customers have also been warned to treat all electricity points as live and unplug electrical appliances to protect them from possible damage when power is restored.