FIREFIGHTERS say they have almost extinguished a fire at Didcot’s decommissioned power station after 20 hours.

The blaze, understood to be in a transformer unit, broke out at about 4.15pm yesterday, and fire crews have been on scene since.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue area manager Peter Cleary said: “This incident is almost over, we are just in a position to hand over to the site manager at 2pm.

“It has been quite complicated because we have had to cut the transformer open.”
He added: “This was not a deliberate fire, it was an accident.”

He said once crews left site they would check back with the site managers every hour.

Three cooling towers at the plant are to be demolished on July 27.

An Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman last night said 15 firefighters were on the scene initially, including three senior fire officers.

That rose to 20 earlier today. 

The spokeswoman added: "We initially sent both pumps from Didcot. There was another engine from Wallingford. A water carrier and crews from Eynsham also attended. 

"There were no reports of any injuries."

She said that the Environment Agency had also been alerted.

Oxford Mail:

Black smoke was seen coming out of the back of a turbine hall yesterday. 

The three cooling towers at Didcot A Power Station will be demolished on Sunday, July 27, it was announced earlier this week.

Managers at NPower refused to give a timing for the explosions, citing "health and safety" reasons.

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