Seven-hour power cut in Perth after smoke seen coming from manhole cover

Witnesses described smelling burnt wiring during the incident on Rannoch Road.

By Kieran Webster

March 23 2023, 8:53am

Rannoch Road in Perth was closed after reports of smoke coming from the ground. Image: Stuart Cowper

Some Perth properties were left without power for more than seven hours after an electrical fault caused smoke to come up through a manhole cover.

Rannoch Road was cordoned off just before 9pm on Wednesday after initial reports of an underground fire.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service attended and while there was no blaze, there was smoke coming from an area below the ground.

Locals also reported smelling burnt wiring.

Workers from gas network SGN and electricity firm SSEN dug up the area to investigate and fix the problem.

Smell of burnt wiring

One witness said: “In addition to the police and fire crews, engineers from both SGN and SSE were on site.

“They had started to dig up parts of the pavement with pneumatic drills and then a small digger arrived on site.

“A number of manhole covers had been opened up both on Rannoch Road and at the bottom of Campsie Road.

Workers from SGN and SSE were at the scene. Image: Stuart Cowper

“Power in parts of the area had also gone out as a result, and some local residents had come down to see what was going on.

“There was a smell of burnt wiring which suggested it had been an underground fire.”

A fire service spokesperson said: “We received a call at 8.52pm on Wednesday to assist gas and hydro engineers after a report of smoke coming from a gas plate on Rannoch Road in Perth.

“One appliance was dispatched from Perth station.

“A cordon was set up around the immediate site and officers were on standby.

“They were later stood down at 10.36pm.”

Traffic was diverted during the incident. Image: Stuart Cowper

A spokesperson for electricity firm SSEN said the issue had been caused by a “deterioration in an underground joint”.

They said: “At 8.49pm, fuses in the nearby Leny Road transformer operated, taking 147 customers off supply.

“SSEN engineers arrived on site, identified the cause of the problem and replaced the damaged cable.

Fault fixed by 4am

“All customers were restored just before 4am this morning and no further work is needed.

“SSEN would like to apologise to any customers affected by this fault.”

A spokesperson for SGN told The Courier: “We attended Rannoch Road in Perth last night following the damage to our gas main caused by an electrical cable.

“Our engineers isolated our gas main, so that the cable could be repaired safely.”