Blaze at Kingsnorth power station
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Sunday, January 03, 2010
A coal-fired power station has been shut down after a fire broke out in one of its pump rooms.
Fifteen fire engines and five specialist response units were called to Kingsnorth power station in Kent at around 1924 GMT on Saturday.
A spokesman for energy firm E.On said the oil fire had been contained to one of the pump houses. The building has been badly damaged but no casualties have been reported, with all staff being accounted for.
A Kent Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said: "Firefighters are still on the scene of Kingsnorth power station following a fire in a pump room.
"After tackling an initial fire on site, firefighters are now checking for hot spots and remain in attendance."
Ten crews are understood to still be at the scene.
A skeleton staff of around 20 were on site at the time of the incident.
The E.On spokesman added:
"The power station was shut down as a precautionary measure. It will remain shut down until it is safe. The National Grid has catered for the loss of capacity, so this won't cause any power cuts."
Kingsnorth is a 1,974 megawatt capacity power station, providing power to 1.5 million homes per year.
Last year, hundreds of environmental campaigners camped in its shadows as part of a Camp for Climate Action protest against plans to build a new coal-fired power station at the site.
However, the plans have now been put on hold for up to three years after E.On said electricity demand had fallen during the global recession.