An underground explosion in an electrical box blacked out more than 230 homes in Leigh.
The fire at the junction of London Road and Burnham Road, Leigh, on Saturday left homes without electricity, some for up to 11 hours.
Firefighters found flames coming from the underground junction box but could only keep watch over the blaze until the power was shut off. The fire then extinguished itself.
A spokesman for electricity supplier 24seven said the incident caused blackouts to properties in Fairview Gardens, Burnham Road, London Road, Salisbury Road, Percy Road and Foxwood Place.
He said: "We had to cut the cables so we could take the whole box out. We got most of the homes back with power by 6.20pm and the remainder of people were back on at 10.30pm.
"This sort of incident doesn't usually happen and it could have been caused by water or cable damage."
Published Monday, January 20, 2003
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