Huge power outage to over 40,000 homes in the Midlands, UK

More than 40,000 homes and business were affected by a ‘large scale’ power cut affecting parts of the Black Country and Birmingham.

 

Western Power Distribution, which makes repairs to faults in the electricity network, said the problem started at 9.55am on Saturday.

 

In total 40,239 properties suffered a lost of electricity in parts of West Bromwich including the Bustleholme estate, Walsall, Great Barr including Hamstead, and Oscott and Kingstanding areas of Birmingham.

 

Spokesman Danny Clayton said power was fully restored to all properties within one hour and 13 minutes.

 

He said: “It was caused by an underground cable fault. It was a large scale fault. We managed to get people supplies back quite quickly.”

Courtesy of expressandstar.com

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Wildfire scorches nearly 80,000 acres in Alaska

A days-long wildfire had covered more than 78,000 acres of Alaska’s Kenai National Wildlife Refuge by early Saturday, a state agency said.

The Funny River Fire began burning Monday evening and was 20% contained by early Saturday, Alaska’s Interagency Incident Management Team said.

No evacuations or injuries have been reported. There were more than 409 firefighters battling the blaze.

Officials say access to the fire is difficult. Investigators suspect human action was the cause, but this is still under investigation.

The refuge is in Soldotna, south of Anchorage.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Spokesman Brad Nelson said there are two subdivisions in the area of the fire. The combined population of these localities is approximately 5,000 residents.

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