Explosion and blackout as birds fly into power line in Paarl
BIRDS caused sparks to fly in Paarl this week when they flew into an 11kV overhead line, causing an explosion and a blackout.
NPO Drakenstein Farm Watch (DFW) reported a power box explosion, which resulted in a fire and a power outage on Tuesday night.
Drakenstein Municipality executive director for engineering services Marius Wüst said: “It was a flock of birds that flew into an 11kV overhead line which caused a short between all three bare conductors.
“This caused a loud noise and set the grass alight. After the fire was extinguished, the damaged materials were replaced and the power was restored,” said Wüst.
The DFW said: “The trained DFW responder alerts not only the control room, but also the nearly 600 WhatsApp DFW members, so that everybody can either respond or understand why the power is off.
“The DFW fire crew gets the message as well, together with our security partners Fidelity ADT.
“The Paarl electrical department was also notified to assist because of the power outage caused by the explosion. The entire action of reporting happens in minutes, and that is how the DFW operates and is able to assist the authorities.”
“Damaged materials were replaced and the power was restored Marius Wüst Executive director: engineering services