What to do when you encounter a fire in Power Substation? (personal experience)

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Hi everybody! Check the new testimony we received from on of our member. He tells you about his personal experience from his previous job as an maintenance engineer ; and guess what? The equipement caught fire!

Now read what he did to manage the situation…

“Regardless of the type of the safety precautions taken, unforeseen fire accidents may take place in substations at any moment. In such cases, many people get panicked and do some random activities to extinguish the fire. However, if you are not carful enough, a slightest mistake can cause irreparable damages to the substation, and in some cases, may cost lives.

In my previous job, where I used to work as an electrical maintenance engineer, I have encountered a similar situation. There was sudden burst of fire in the insulated oil circuit breakers. And in no time, the fire was creeping to the nearby engine driven generators. There were not many people at the substation as it was night shift. And as a maintenance engineer it was my duty to take appropriate action.

Though I have been working at the same substation for a couple of years, I have never encountered such a problem. Yet, I knew what had to be done in those situations, it took a while to regain my composure.

During my training, we had rigorous sessions as to what has to be done if a fire accident takes place at the substation. I tried to recall all those important things that have to be done and more importantly “what shouldn’t be done”.

What I have done to ensure that both the substation and the surroundings are safe:

1. I was very cautious. I did not touch any electrical equipment. In fact, I was trained not to touch any electrical equipment during fire accidents in substations, as it may make the situation more vulnerable.
2. The next thing I did is, picked up my phone and informed about the fire accident to my superiors and the fire-fighters simultaneously. I made it a point to explain the situation in brief to the fire-fighters along with the exact location of the substation and the section that caught fire, promptly.
3. I tried to analyze the circumstances and watch carefully for any conduction materials near the fence or around the substation, in order to remove them and prevent the fire from intensifying quickly.



4. Residents surrounding the sub-station came in and wanted to stop the fire by pouring water. I knew that it was even more dangerous to use water to extinguish the fire inside the substation as it is not yet completely electrical safe.
   I warned them of the same and instead asked them to wet the surrounding areas and the fence, to ensure that the nearby areas won’t catch fire in the event of any explosion, which I thought was inevident. I told them they can also use sand instead of water, in case the fire creeps towards the fence (I knew water was scarce in that area).
5. Advised staff as well the locals to stay at least 300 feet away from the power substation and do not try to enter the premises until the fire-fighters arrive. I warned the service staff to stay away from the overhead conductor, because in case the fire intensifies, the most vulnerable that is prone to blast is the overhead conductor.

As soon as my superiors and fire safety staff arrived, we took all the necessary actions. We deactivated all the equipment and made the substation electrically safe. Once this was done, fire fighters came into the act and the fire was extinguished.

All of it happened in just about an hour. Hadn’t I responded quickly, gases might have quickly built-up inside the oil filled transformer causing rupture, which would have lead to the failure of the external cover of the transformer blowing it away and spilling the oil everywhere creating a large pool of fire.

Hence, with proper attention to detail and keeping your calm, you can deal with emergencies efficiently, which otherwise can cause extensive damages.”

Thanks for reading fellows members, have you experienced the same problem? If you have, leave your comments.

[Anonymous]

Valuable information. Fortunate me I discovered your web site by accident, and
I am shocked why this accident did not took place earlier!
I bookmarked it.

[Author]

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