Published
By Freddie G. Lazaro
Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur
— The whole province of Abra was experiencing a power outage a few hours before
the New Year’s Eve revelry after a “kwitis” (skyrocket) sparked a fire that
damaged power installations of the Abra Electric Cooperative’s (Abreco) in
Bangued town on Friday night.
Arson investigators
said the 30-minute fire which started at 8:18 p.m. Friday destroyed three
industrial Automatic Voltage Regulators (AVR) and several feeders, forcing
Abreco’s main substation to turn off electric power in the whole province.
The probers said the
skyrocket hit a main power line, sparking a fire that crawled all the way to
the substation.
Abreco General Manager
Loreto Seares Jr. said had it not been the overloaded 5MVA substation that
supplies the whole of the province, the huge fire could have been avoided.
The power cooperative
had been asking the National Electrification Administration (NEA) since 2014
for assistance for another 5MVA substation in the province because the
ill-fated substation has been 100 percent loading since two years ago.
Abreco reportedly tried
to restore electric power early yesterday morning in the capital town of
Bangued but failed.
As of presstime
yesterday afternoon, there was no set schedule yet when power will be restored
in Abra province and in other towns in Ilocos Sur affected by the blackout – Burgos,
Sta. Maria, Narvacan, Nagbukel and Santa.
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