AN INVESTIGATION into what sparked the major blaze at Didcot B power station is expected to take up to a week to complete.

Four cooling towers were almost destroyed by the fire at the power station, which broke out just after 8pm on Sunday, and bosses at RWE npower are waiting to assess the cost of the damage.

The power plant, which is gas-fired, is only able to produce half the electricity it normally generates for the National Grid, although this will not affect supplies.

Neighbouring Didcot A power station, which was coal-fired, closed in March last year and three of its cooling towers were spectaacularly demolished in July.

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RWE npower spokeswoman Kelly Brown said firefighters were last night still on site assessing the cause of the fire and that their investigations could take up to a week.

She added: “Didcot B normally powers about one million homes but is only able to do half that at the moment.

“Our assessment will kickstart after the fire service have left.

Oxford Mail:

  • The blaze at its height on Sunday night

“One bank of cooling towers has been unaffected which means the station can still operate, but it could take a week or two before the plant is fully operational. The assessment of the damage and repair costs won’t start until the fire service has left.”

Ms Brown added that the blaze was being referred to the Health and Safety Executive.

A resident at Great Western Park has been praised for raising the alarm, but Ms Brown said she believed a call to the fire service from the power station would have been made “at about the same” because there are cameras monitoring all parts of the site.

About 70 staff work at Didcot B but only half were on site when the fire broke out in one of two cooling tower modules.

Oxfordshire’s chief fire officer Dave Etheridge said 60 firefighters brought the blaze under control by about 10pm. Arson has been ruled out as a cause.

He said he was thankful that no-one was hurt.

Oxford Mail:

  • An aerial view showing the extent of the damage

Assistant chief fire officer Simon Furlong added the fire service worked closely with power station staff on plans to deal with such an incident.

Town councillor Des Healy, 67, who worked at Didcot A from 1972 to 1999, said: “Residents were hoping the gas was not going to explode.

“Thank God none of the staff, the firefighters or any of the residents were hurt – it’s amazing that the plant has the flexibility to keep operating after a fire like this.

“I was part of the fire team at Didcot A in the 1970s when a blaze broke out in the turbine hall.

“I was so relieved when a firefighter said ‘get lost’ and took the hose off me.”

Town mayor Scott Wilgrove said: “I was very concerned that someone could have been hurt as the fire was intense.”

Electricity for a million homes

DIDCOT B power station supplies electricity to about one million homes.

The 1.4GW gas-fired plant, run by about 70 staff, was dwarfed by its neighbour, coal-fired Didcot A, which closed in March last year as part of a European Union drive to cut carbon emissions.

Oxford Mail:

  • Firefighters at the scene on Sunday night

The demolition of three of its six iconic cooling towers took place in July, watched by thousands.

The three remaining towers are expected to be demolished sometime next year as work continues to clear the site.

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