That's funny Lee our side of Fairlawn never came on until 21.30!!! How bizzare!leenewham wrote:Fairlawn park was dark untill just before 20.00.
I went to get the champagne..but it was warm.
Big Fire / Power Cut
BT lines down...(& my story - didn't mean it to be so lo
Hi
Firstly - what a godsend this forum turned out to be yesterday!
My electricity went off at 7.45am when the alarm clock/radio frizzed for a second (I went back to sleep hoping that it would be restored soon or that I just needed to change a fuse!).
Come 10.30 and still no leccy, went to call the EDF but couldn't as my BT line was also down (I always thought these ran on a different power source - obviously affected too); tried to use my mobile to call EDF but it doesn't like to make 0845 numbers so I was stuck for news!
So I woke the neighbour, discovered it wasn't just my flat and that her BT was down too, so we went outside and was told that the whole of Lewisham was down - you could see the cars having fun at the traffic lights...
Managed to get a radio signal using my mobile and got a snippet of news that it was the substation and that electricity was expected to be back on in early afternoon. Great, I thought, the fridge/freezer and aquarium fish can survive for a few hours, I could then use my (electric) shower and it'll be back on for the footie - so out in the garden I went.
And then... my mobile went to emergency calls only so I really struggled to access the internet through it, text messages were taking over an hour to arrive and the stupid radio stations didn't have any updates! The only story I could find was the BBC update that helpfully stated that "power had been restored" [for the majority of homes]. I eventually managed to access this forum through my mobile so could slowly read the updates that I was not alone! However, then my phone's battery started to go so thought I'd better dig out the candles and cook tea on the gas hob (at this point the fish started gasping for air, although thankfully the fridge/freezer was holding up well). Had a moment of realisation that if I had an accident or a fire started I couldn't call out using my land-line and wasn't overly confident that the mobile would work!
My power (in Wells Park Road) eventually came back at 2120 just as it was getting dark - and with it the cacophony of shop alarms (whoop, whoop I hear the neighbours cry!). Looks like I was pretty lucky as my friend in Sydenham Avenue didn't get his back till 0015...
Oh well - certainly makes you appreciate the need for spare batteries, candles, matches, wind-up torches & radios and forums such as this more!
Gaz
Firstly - what a godsend this forum turned out to be yesterday!
My electricity went off at 7.45am when the alarm clock/radio frizzed for a second (I went back to sleep hoping that it would be restored soon or that I just needed to change a fuse!).
Come 10.30 and still no leccy, went to call the EDF but couldn't as my BT line was also down (I always thought these ran on a different power source - obviously affected too); tried to use my mobile to call EDF but it doesn't like to make 0845 numbers so I was stuck for news!
So I woke the neighbour, discovered it wasn't just my flat and that her BT was down too, so we went outside and was told that the whole of Lewisham was down - you could see the cars having fun at the traffic lights...
Managed to get a radio signal using my mobile and got a snippet of news that it was the substation and that electricity was expected to be back on in early afternoon. Great, I thought, the fridge/freezer and aquarium fish can survive for a few hours, I could then use my (electric) shower and it'll be back on for the footie - so out in the garden I went.
And then... my mobile went to emergency calls only so I really struggled to access the internet through it, text messages were taking over an hour to arrive and the stupid radio stations didn't have any updates! The only story I could find was the BBC update that helpfully stated that "power had been restored" [for the majority of homes]. I eventually managed to access this forum through my mobile so could slowly read the updates that I was not alone! However, then my phone's battery started to go so thought I'd better dig out the candles and cook tea on the gas hob (at this point the fish started gasping for air, although thankfully the fridge/freezer was holding up well). Had a moment of realisation that if I had an accident or a fire started I couldn't call out using my land-line and wasn't overly confident that the mobile would work!
My power (in Wells Park Road) eventually came back at 2120 just as it was getting dark - and with it the cacophony of shop alarms (whoop, whoop I hear the neighbours cry!). Looks like I was pretty lucky as my friend in Sydenham Avenue didn't get his back till 0015...
Oh well - certainly makes you appreciate the need for spare batteries, candles, matches, wind-up torches & radios and forums such as this more!
Gaz
-
GLOBAL THINKER
- Posts: 177
- Joined: 2 Nov 2004 13:20
- Location: SYDENHAM
Apparently you can get compensation, which amounts to about £25 per day.
To be honest, I think they did an amazing job yesterday to get the power back on in about 12 hours - when I saw the damage yesterday morning, I thought it would be 2 or 3 days before we had anything power-wise.
As far as I know, we have all been 'patched' into different sub stations.
To be honest, I think they did an amazing job yesterday to get the power back on in about 12 hours - when I saw the damage yesterday morning, I thought it would be 2 or 3 days before we had anything power-wise.
As far as I know, we have all been 'patched' into different sub stations.
The Day After ...
Sydenham has power. EDF has a gently smoking substation. These pictures, from the footbridge show the station and the transformer pit. The near pit (in front of the main block) was, I think, the one belching flame 200 feet high yesterday.
The surrounding high brick walls are designed to contain any fire/explosion. It worked as the main block appears to be undamaged. Remarkable.
Youtube version here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww4547ka5VU
There is very little activity. There are a couple of environmental vehicles (van and small tanker) presumably ready to remove any hazardous material. No fire engines, no police ...
Admin
Sydenham has power. EDF has a gently smoking substation. These pictures, from the footbridge show the station and the transformer pit. The near pit (in front of the main block) was, I think, the one belching flame 200 feet high yesterday.
The surrounding high brick walls are designed to contain any fire/explosion. It worked as the main block appears to be undamaged. Remarkable.
Youtube version here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww4547ka5VU
There is very little activity. There are a couple of environmental vehicles (van and small tanker) presumably ready to remove any hazardous material. No fire engines, no police ...
Admin
Last edited by admin on 17 Jun 2008 09:33, edited 2 times in total.
Power supply spikes
Our power came back on about 9pm last night in Lawrie Park Gardens, but since then I have had the trip switches going off and cutting off the power to the electrical sockets 4 times up to this morning. The lights are okay, with no flickering. No appliances working overnight but still switc tripped.
Wondered whether there is a problem with the supply causing spikes in the voltage ? Is due to using different substations to 'patch' the supply ?
Anyone else having problems with the supply causing trip switches to activate since the fire?
Wondered whether there is a problem with the supply causing spikes in the voltage ? Is due to using different substations to 'patch' the supply ?
Anyone else having problems with the supply causing trip switches to activate since the fire?
Saigon,
I live in LPG and my UPS is designed to trip on spikes and high/low voltages. Its been perfect since power was resumed. Currently showing a smooth 240v exactly. Better than normal.
It was, AFAIK, a controlled power cut & resumption yesterday so those events should not have caused any damage to the relays ... sorry not to be more helpful.
I should add that there are three independent electric supply circuts along LPG serving every third residence (at least at our end). So because mine is OK doesn't mean yours is too.
Admin
I live in LPG and my UPS is designed to trip on spikes and high/low voltages. Its been perfect since power was resumed. Currently showing a smooth 240v exactly. Better than normal.
It was, AFAIK, a controlled power cut & resumption yesterday so those events should not have caused any damage to the relays ... sorry not to be more helpful.
I should add that there are three independent electric supply circuts along LPG serving every third residence (at least at our end). So because mine is OK doesn't mean yours is too.
Admin
EDF is reponsible for the voltage of your supply. The frequency is controlled somewhere deep in the depths of the National Grid and has nothing to do with yesterday.
The problem is that your relays are supposed to trip on surges of current on your side of the meter (like when you get a short). So I woiuld not have thought about the EDF supply as the most likely cause. But its worth giving them a ring. If you are on a dodgy circuit other people may also have reported it. It is a lot easy to diagnose an oft report problem than a single instance.
Is it the same relay that trips or is it more? Is it a ring main (35 amp) or lighting circut (5A?). Many years ago I had a socket with bare wires too close. Just occasionally it would fllash across. Not enough to blow a fuse but it would trip a relay. But of course always the same relay ...
Admin
The problem is that your relays are supposed to trip on surges of current on your side of the meter (like when you get a short). So I woiuld not have thought about the EDF supply as the most likely cause. But its worth giving them a ring. If you are on a dodgy circuit other people may also have reported it. It is a lot easy to diagnose an oft report problem than a single instance.
Is it the same relay that trips or is it more? Is it a ring main (35 amp) or lighting circut (5A?). Many years ago I had a socket with bare wires too close. Just occasionally it would fllash across. Not enough to blow a fuse but it would trip a relay. But of course always the same relay ...
Admin
Hiya Saigon, i also live in LPG and i haven't had any trouble witrh the trip switches since the electric came back on,
Also i would like to say that i'm surprised it's back on so quickly given the amount of damage that occured to the sub station i'm well impressed that they managed to get us back on line even though we were out for approx 12.45 hrs.
And i thought it was a lovely day without the Tv and Radio etc maybe it would be a good idea to have a power down day each month (summer only)
like they do in the city?
It's highly unlikely that you can - from the EDF WebsiteThomas wrote:Does anyone know how to claim compensation for this?
Information is listed here - http://www.edfenergy.com/html/showPage. ... ntacts.tilCan I make a claim if my power is cut?
We don't pay compensation, as often the cause of the problem is outside our control. But under our Guaranteed Standards of Service (as set by our Regulator Ofgem) we will make a payment if you have no power for 18 hours continuously from the time you report the power cut to us.
This is £50 for domestic customers and £100 for commercial customers. Again there are exemptions to these payments where it has not been reasonably practical to make repairs, such as in severe weather conditions or where we have not been able to gain access to the area of the fault.
We can't guarantee a constant supply, but we'll always get your power restored as quickly as we can.
And hi to all, been here before but only just got around to registering
Here on Longton Grove we got our power back around 10:15PM, had fun working on the garden with no computers, tvs or phones to bug me
Power may go again tonight
Hi all
Just thought I'd better post this while I still can, I live in Longfield Crescent right opposite the site of the fire and the Brigade are back in force. Power is likely to get switched off again shortly due to overheating, I don't know how many it will affect this time it may just be us in the immediatea area.
i'll keep you posted.
Just thought I'd better post this while I still can, I live in Longfield Crescent right opposite the site of the fire and the Brigade are back in force. Power is likely to get switched off again shortly due to overheating, I don't know how many it will affect this time it may just be us in the immediatea area.
i'll keep you posted.
I'm not happy with communication and safety issues
Hi, I posted the previous in a rush just incase the power went mid-flo!
What I really wanted to say was how annoyed I was about the events of yesterday. My garden literally backs onto the site where the fire took place, we woke to a humming noise which was at around 7:20am. When we looked out the kids bedroom window the building was fully ablaze and had clearly been on fire for awhile. At this point there was no brigade to be seen, we quickly moved the children away from the window as we didn't know how safe it was and proceeded to dial 999, the operator told us the services were on their way.
At around 7:35 the brigade arrived, they then couldn't access the the premises as they couldn't get through the gate. By this time lots of other engines, police, and ambulance had arrived. My other half and eldest son went outside as did many others to spectate and were able to stand fairly close approx. 50 meters away.
Eventually they were all made to move back and they cordened off the road with police tape. The brigade tried various water points for their hoses in the immediate area and none had water! They had to use one which was all the way down the road on Sydenham park Rd before they could access any water.
My main points of concern are:
If they thought the area was unsafe for spectators standing in the area why did they think it safe for residence in the flat immediately opposite the fire to stay in the block and not evacuate? The only safety measure we were given was to stay away from the windows.
Why was water not available in Longfield Crescent - it seems to me that all the recent Thames Water works that have taken place have caused a problem with the supply.
The initial call to the services was by a regular concerned person, shouldn't a building of it's kind be somehow hooked up directly to the services so that when a fire occurs they are immediatley alerted and at the scene as soon as possible?
We were very poorly informed all the way throughout the day, there were masses of police etc. and fireman who were sitting around that could've been talking to us the residents just to reassure us of the situation. When we did ask questions we were made to feel like we were being annoying.
That's my take on it, I don't know how anyone else's experience was. Sorry for the rant but this was on my doorstep and was extremely frustrating. For the record our power came back on at approx 9:45pm.
Further update, my other half has just come back in after speaking to the firemen outside and they still can't confirm if the power will be going off again tonight.
What I really wanted to say was how annoyed I was about the events of yesterday. My garden literally backs onto the site where the fire took place, we woke to a humming noise which was at around 7:20am. When we looked out the kids bedroom window the building was fully ablaze and had clearly been on fire for awhile. At this point there was no brigade to be seen, we quickly moved the children away from the window as we didn't know how safe it was and proceeded to dial 999, the operator told us the services were on their way.
At around 7:35 the brigade arrived, they then couldn't access the the premises as they couldn't get through the gate. By this time lots of other engines, police, and ambulance had arrived. My other half and eldest son went outside as did many others to spectate and were able to stand fairly close approx. 50 meters away.
Eventually they were all made to move back and they cordened off the road with police tape. The brigade tried various water points for their hoses in the immediate area and none had water! They had to use one which was all the way down the road on Sydenham park Rd before they could access any water.
My main points of concern are:
If they thought the area was unsafe for spectators standing in the area why did they think it safe for residence in the flat immediately opposite the fire to stay in the block and not evacuate? The only safety measure we were given was to stay away from the windows.
Why was water not available in Longfield Crescent - it seems to me that all the recent Thames Water works that have taken place have caused a problem with the supply.
The initial call to the services was by a regular concerned person, shouldn't a building of it's kind be somehow hooked up directly to the services so that when a fire occurs they are immediatley alerted and at the scene as soon as possible?
We were very poorly informed all the way throughout the day, there were masses of police etc. and fireman who were sitting around that could've been talking to us the residents just to reassure us of the situation. When we did ask questions we were made to feel like we were being annoying.
That's my take on it, I don't know how anyone else's experience was. Sorry for the rant but this was on my doorstep and was extremely frustrating. For the record our power came back on at approx 9:45pm.
Further update, my other half has just come back in after speaking to the firemen outside and they still can't confirm if the power will be going off again tonight.
Gosh, I hope the power doesn't go out this evening, went without power for 18 hours yesterday (though technically we did get 5 minutes mid afternoon but it the went again), got all a bit dull.
This was down on Adamsrill Road, though I think some neighbours got power back before others, mine definitely only came back on at 3am-ish.
Well done to the fire brigade and engineers for getting it sorted out eventually.
This was down on Adamsrill Road, though I think some neighbours got power back before others, mine definitely only came back on at 3am-ish.
Well done to the fire brigade and engineers for getting it sorted out eventually.
