TV sets explode as power surge hits hundreds

TELEVISIONS burst into flames and other electrical appliances overheated as a power surge hit hundreds of homes.

The electricity surge left one man injured and caused 23 minor fires after nearly twice the normal voltage was sent through the mains.

Firefighters were called to a number of incidents in the Archway Road area of Highgate and police had to isolate the eightroad block. A 67-year-old man was admitted to hospital for smoke inhalation after his TV caught fire.

The surge was blamed on a faulty pillar: a fuse box next to the local substation.

Michael Nabavian, 29, of Talbot Road, said: "I was woken by the sound of my bathroom fan, which had turned on. It was making a strange noise and I could smell burning plastic.

"I tried to turn them off, but nothing seemed able to stop it. I went into the lounge only to see smoke billowing from my DVD player. It was terrifying as I had no idea what was causing these things."

Electricity company EDF disconnected power supplies as fire engines extinguished a series of small blazes.

A Fire Brigade spokesman said the first call yesterday morning was for a storage shed fire. "Then calls seemed to flood in one after the other. It was unlike anything we had experienced,"he said. An EDF spokesman said engineers were contacting householders to check equipment and repair any damage. "EDF would like to apologise to all those affected," he said.

EDF admitted residents had complained of flickering lights last week, but said inspections had revealed no problems .

POWER surges as large as the one in Highgate can cause wiring and circuit boards in televisions and computers to melt.

This can lead to a short circuit in the unit's power supply and a small fire, which can cause it to explode.

Even with no explosion, the equipment is likely to be ruined as its circuits are "fried".

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