Fire extinguished at Puerto Rican power plant
2022-04-07 09:00:03 / [email protected] / Ana Teresa Badía Valdés
Photos: The new day
A fire was reported in substations at the Costa Sur power plant in Puerto Rico on Wednesday night.
According to A first hour newspaper, after receiving the emergency call, members of the Ponce and Guayanilla fire department determined the noise was the product of a fire.
According to Commander Juan Cordero, chief of the fire department in the Ponce area, “Around 8:30 p.m. a strong tremor was felt in the southern area and when we got the call it was an explosion in the Costa Sur area and Guayanilla and Ponce units quickly arrived at the scene. We encountered two substations that were completely burned out.”
That’s what the officer said “We were in contact with the factory personnel and they assured us that there was no electricity and we then proceeded to put out the fire. The difficulty was practically the flame, which was quite high, but we had a good flow of water, thanks to the quick response of our colleagues from Guayanilla we were able to put it out in time and we had enough flow of water and we went on to put it out”he added.
The assessment of the damage takes place on this day. today “The appropriate investigations are being carried out and the media are being briefed on what really happened. Anything can happen in a power plant, but nothing is impossible either.”, said Lieutenant Edwin Sepúlveda of the fire department. He also explained that the situation arose in the back of the facility. “Several pieces and others were burned at the substation.
We managed to erase in record time. We didn’t have any difficulties, everything was accessible, PREPA people from the company also helped us to get to the place”he added, noting that “We use foam, we use foam, because what has burned is transformers and there is oil in them.”
While Rubén Díaz, state police emergency management coordinator in Ponce, assured that the zone commander had activated his emergency plan for the entire region “Be careful of gas stations, traffic lights, intersections and everything else.”
Preliminary estimates from the PREPA website show that around 193,483 customers were left without power. Carolina would be the hardest hit region.
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- Governor Pedro Pierluisi tweeted that “a critical breakdown has been recorded in Central Sur” which has resulted in the entire power system being “protected and out of order”. The governor adds that “it will take approximately 12 to 24 hours to restore service, with hospital and essential services being a priority.” LUMA “Teams are responding and working to restore service as soon as possible. Given the size and extent of the power outage, power restoration could be extended this Thursday,” he explained.
- The hospitals operate on generators and have “adequate fuel stocks and no major inconveniences have been reported,” according to Health Minister Carlos Mellado.
- Today the government is suspending education and work in the public sector.