Explosion and Fire Wreck Power House

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 883, 29 January 1930, Page 10

Explosion and Fire Wreck Power House

£IO,OOO DAMAGE BUNNYTHORPE OUTBREAK Special to THE SUN PALMERSTON N.. Tues-iay With a blinding flaih of blue light and a terrific roar that cr, U | d be heard for miles, some appa ri . t.us at the Public Works Depart ment s sub-station at Bunnythcrpe blew up this afternoor. Follow, ing the explosion the buildine burst into flames, and was cam' pletely destroyed, the damagr being estimated at at £IO,OOO. Mr. W. Greig. operator In charge of the station, was in the building when the explosion occurred, and had a miraculous escape from death a short circuit in one of the pothemi. through which 11,100-voits was p af , ing is believed to he responsible | o r the explosion and for the subsequent outbreak of tire. The sub-station which is at Bunnyihorpe. seven milt' from Palmerston North, works in con junction with the Manawatu-Oroua Power Board's sub-station, takin--110,000 volts from Mangahao, break ing it down to 11,000 volts, and deliv! ering it to the latter sub-station, which distributes it all through the Mana watu and Oroua districts. An underground cable connects the two buildirigs which are about two chains apart. In the department's sub-station the current, after being cut down, passes through a potheac! into a metering cubicle out through another pothead and so to the underground mair. It j s in one of these potheads thet the trouble occurred. FLASH OF FIRE A flash of light from the cubicle seven yards away, to a telephone switchboard, which crumpled and twisted under the heat, followed by * terrific explosion, made Mr. Greis spring from his chair at a able in the sub-station shortly after 4.15 in the afternoon. Dazed by the explosion he nevertheless dived for tbe door and switched off the oil switches, so cutting off the current. Returning to the door again he found the whole building had in this short space of time, become a blazing; inferno, the oil switches and other inflammable material feeding the flames, which soon mounted to r he roof, 35ft above. A large number of chemical lire extinguishers were brought into use, but had no apparent effect on the flames. The Palmerston North and Feilding Fire Brigades were notified but could do nothing, there being no water available. The building burred until there was nothing left to burn and high, gaunt concrete walls supporting fragments of what, was* once a slate roof are all that remain, while among the debris is all that iemain* of the station's expensive equipment. HEAVY LOSS FOR DEPARTMENT The department’s loss will be heavy and £IO,OOO is regarded as a modest estimate as a quantity of valuable apparatus, including 60 one-volt batteries, six oil switches and about a dozen bushes, each of which costs £3OO. were stored in the station. Finding their efforts to quell the flames futile the combined gangs of the two sub-stations immediately Bft io work to effect repairs. A large number of Manawatu farmers are dependent on the power station for electricity for their milking machines and the break caused these come inconvenience. At 6,30 p.m.. however, a temporary repair had been effected, end power was once again running in three lines. These remarkably quick repairs were made possible only by Ihe fact that when the ManawatuOroua Power Board built its nubstation in 1924 it anticipated trouble from the underground cable, and built, in three bushes so lhat w orkmen were able to run a line direct from the transformers to the station, cutting out all instruments.

The Public Works Department’s telephone line from Shannon to Masterton was broken also, and for a long time after dark last evening men were busy erecting poles for a temporary line. Mr. O. Jackson, the ManawatuOroua Power Board's operator, considers that a power arc was set up, melting the compound of bitumen inside the pothead and setting it on fire. Had a short circuit occurred in the usual way the overload relays would have functioned, cutting off the current.