Wilrijk has power again and the traffic lights on the A12 are also working again after a fire at a high voltage power station

“At around 1:35 p.m., a fire broke out at a high-voltage substation in Jules Moretosli in Wilrijk,” said Antwerp police spokesman Wouter Bruens. “It has a huge impact on the immediate environment. The police, firefighters and Fluvius are currently on site mapping everything.”

The fire caused power outages on a particularly large scale. Almost the entire Wilrijk region was without electricity, as were parts of southern Antwerp, Berchem, Kiel, and Hoboken. In total, at least 10,000 households would have been affected by the power outage, and suddenly it was also dark on local university campuses.

Power was also temporarily cut off to the emergency center and fire stations in Edegem, Wilrijk and UZA. UZA had to switch to emergency generators. The high-voltage network operator Elia and Fluvius confirmed that these priority customers are the first to receive power again, via a route other than the installation in Wilrijk.

Meanwhile, everyone in Wilrijk and the surrounding area had power again. By 4 p.m., the disturbance was completely over. Damage to high-voltage installations still needs to be repaired.

The lights and cameras on the A12 are off

Traffic lights in the area were also broken, causing dangerous situations on the roads and at intersections. On the A12 motorway between the Antwerp ring road and the Rubel tunnel in Boom, all traffic lights and cameras no longer work. Local police districts went to their posts to regulate traffic at intersections.

“So we ask that you do not travel by car or bike in that area if it is not necessary,” Bruins continued. “If you have to, be very careful.” Police also requested that emergency services not be contacted to report a power outage, as they were particularly busy this afternoon.

At Jan De Vostunnel, Bolivartunnel and Craeybeckxtunnel in Antwerp and at Rupeltunnel in Boom, the lighting and cameras continued to work. According to the Flemish Traffic Centre, they should not be closed.

The power outage also affected bus and tram supplies. Carrier De Lijn said several lines were not served.

In practice, this concerns four tram lines: lines 2 and 6 in the direction of Merksem/Luchtbal via Plantin and Zwaantjes, and lines 4 and 10 in both directions between Antwerp Zuid station and Hoboken Lilleplatz/Hoboken Schönselhof.

A number of buses were also affected due to a closed crossing in Hoboken. According to De Lin, it is about lines 13, 33, 140 and 141. “Our technicians are working, although it may take a few hours,” the public transport company said.

33 MW

Marie-Laure Vanuancelli, spokeswoman for Network Director Elijah, explained the explosion and fire at the high-voltage power plant this afternoon. “Around the second half, the power switch, a device that regulates the power of the prism, explodes. Such a thing never happens in reality and it is not clear how it could happen, but this explosion caused a fire. Elijah’s classmate was also present at the time, but he Fortunately he escaped unscathed.”

Vanuancelli also explained why the firefighters could not immediately start extinguishing the fire. “It’s not safe as long as the high-voltage substation is still powered. We had to turn them off first. Hence the major blackouts in the area. The extinguishing work is progressing quickly, but it’s about a station providing 33 megawatts of power,” says Vanuancelli. . “We’ll have to measure the damage and see how quickly we can get the post back into service.”