Manhole explodes and catches fire in Finchley Road

The Fire Brigade was called to the scene of the manhole explosion in the Finchley Road

Rachael Getzels Monday, March 4, 2013
5:28 PM

A manhole exploded and burst into flames on the Finchley Road on Saturday (March 2) leaving pedestrians stunned by the sudden fire blocking their path.

The Fire Bridgade arrived on the scene on the corner of the Finchley Road and Pattison Road in Fortune Green at around 10:15am and they left 15 minutes later.

71-year old David Hertsis of Stanmore was travelling past on the bus when he saw the pavement go up in flames. The salesman said: “I saw the explosion and I saw flames 20 feet in to the air.

“If we were walking down the street could we just get blown up by one of these?

“It was frightening to see.”

UK power networks have said the explosion was caused by a fault with an underground cable.

Their spokeswoman said: “UK Power Networks has repaired an underground cable fault in Finchley Road following a fault on our low voltage network on Saturday (March 2).

“We were called by the Fire Drigade at about 10.45am following reports of smoke coming from the pavement.

“Power was interrupted to one customer at 2.10pm to enable our engineers to safely carry out the repairs.

“We worked as quickly as was safely possible to restore the customer’s power supply by 7.30pm.

She added: “We realise how difficult it can be to be without power and apologise for any inconvenience.”

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