KOHAT, May 17: Power supply was cut off to whole Kohat division on Thursday evening when huge fire broke out in the main grid station located on Rawalpindi road, apparently due to a technical fault.

The fire was extinguished by fire brigade engines of Pakistan Air Force after hectic efforts of nearly two hours, officials said and added that there was no casualty in the incident.

An official from inside the grid station told Dawn on mobile phone that the fire started in the main transformer, which supplied power to Hangu district.  He said that it was a huge transformer of the size of a 14x14 ft hall. He said that the fire erupted at around 6.05pm and was put off at 8.10pm. The fire started when a connector of the transformer was snapped, he said.

The official said that electricity supply had been stopped to the whole Kohat division as a precaution.

“We will examine each and every gadget in the grid station minutely before restoring power. The electricity suspension can continue for whole night or even on Friday (today). We have summoned senior repair staff from Peshawar, which will arrive soon to check the whole system and also assess the losses. But replacement of the transformer could take several days,” The official said.

He said that luckily nobody was hurt in the incident and the nearby residential area also remained safe from the blaze.

The high flames and billowing smoke were visible from a distance of several kilometers and high officials of the district administration were monitoring the situation at the scene.

Sources said that fire engines of the PAF reached the scene first and tried to put the fire with water, but the fire got more intense.

Later, they brought a chemical and extinguished the fire by spraying foam on it.

They said that in the start the fire had died down itself after a few minutes, but strong winds ignited it again. “The fire was controlled only after the spray of foam,” they said.

The sources said that the fire brigade of Tehsil Municipal Corporation reached the scene very late. The grid has no system of its own for extinguishing fire in case of emergency, said the sources.

The commissioner, district coordination officer, district police officer, SSP investigation, executive officer of Wapda, TMA staff and other high officials were present at the scene to review the situation.

The grid official said that the fire spread so quickly that they could not do anything. He said that the cause of fire would be ascertained after a detailed inquiry into the incident.