Fire at a sub-power station Ottawa, March 13 2009

[dodgejamesuk]

also the fire is burning of the carbon in the smoke, and the smoke super heated oil and inslation

[curious166]

How does metal catch on fire Honestly!



[Core5]

@curious166 What's burning is the mineral oil used to keep the transformers cool.

[jchambers2586]

the mineral oil is used to keep the transformers cool.

[ohmmeters]

Thats what I call a big fire !!! :)

[BurtBartlow]

All of those houses look exactly the same.

[ohmmeters]

@BurtBartlow

Yes, a masterpiece of boredom those houses :)

[usernameABCDXYZ]

What a shame to see all the equipment burned to waste! ='(

[rojblake82]

I would hate to near the exploding transformer, if I was I would get a fatal shock and be burnt to toast there is no doubt about it.

[lapulapu12345]

FIRE IN A HOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lapulapu12345]

Its looks like sabotage

[Core5]

@lapulapu12345 Has the guilt finally gotten you? Are you now confessing?

[lapulapu12345]

@Core5 ummm no, not at all, i'm not a person who do such a thing :P

[Core5]

@lapulapu12345 Hehe, just checking ;-)

Glad you liked it.

[chris03653837]

TRANSFORMERS MADE IN CHINA

[kc5cxu]

does any body know what kinda oil is burning and is it toxic?

[Core5]

@kc5cxu It's mineral oil. Generally non-toxic, but I still wouldn't want to inhale the smoke along with what ever other plastics and materials are burning. Following the fire, the site was completely excavated to have the contaminated soil disposed of.

[marechalnousvoila]

@kc5cxu yes there is toxic

[thebigblackstallion]

@kc5cxu the oil is toxic if you breath the smoke and all oils have the same effect on the environment. Now I don't know what kind of oil it is but my guess is that is not peanut oil. lol

[kc5cxu]

@thebigblackstallion Hi i was told it is mineral oil thay use the oil to keep them cool so it wont over heat it looks like it over heated lol.

[tawmkat]

these houses are built too close to these POWer places, or vice versa

[amishmike1]

hello? Dad? Yeah some black guy is giving mom an Amish Donkey Plow. Oh and the transformer is on fire

[joehijoe]

Two things. 1. What was the fire burning? 2. Were they pouring water on an elctric fire?

[rocketman221projects]

@joehijoe The transformers are oil filled, and the power appears to be out.

[ApolloWasReal]

Is that water that they're pouring on a transformer oil fire? 

[9020powrmax]

2:54 Notice the fire truck. #51. Remember the tv show "Emergency!" From back in the 70's. What a coincidence?

[aleks9955]

лп

[aleks9955]

хуйня ебать

[redsquirrelftw]

"Dear HydroOne customer: The power will be out for approximately 8 hours due to OMFG"

[DjResR]

wow what a flame...

[smurfboywv]

This is why I hate living near those things.

[SmokeEater2012]

dang thats a hell of a fire but thank to your local FD they was able to keep the blazed contained and keep it from spreading to homes and families

[007sae]

So I hope electrical contractors are more aware next time!!

And for the owner of the substation - Always Hire a Electrical Testing Company - Any member of the NETA (National Electrical Testing Association).

Best Luck Next Time!

Regards

[Core5]

@007sae Thank you for your comments. Very interesting.

And yes, this was human error. The technicians working on it had a switch malfunction and overload. Perhaps the very same switch which ordinarily de-energies the system, or a part of the system in order to maintain service in the area.

[007sae]

@Core5 Things happens, what kind of maintenance, were they doing??

[007sae]

The purpose of the Electrical Preventive Maintenance Program is to reduce hazard to life and property that can result from failure or malfunction of the electrical system and equipment. It should be performed on annual basis - BUT AGAIN - DE-Energized!

It should be mentioned that the electrical system of an industrial plant is like the blood circulation system of the human body, if any defect occurs in that system, serious problems will be encountered.

[007sae]

Electrical equipment deterioration is normal, but equipment failure is not inevitable. As soon as new equipment is installed, a process of normal deterioration begins. Unchecked, the deterioration can be accelerated by factor such as a hostile environment, overload or severe duty cycle. An effective maintenance program identifies and recognizes these factors and provides measures for coping with them.

[007sae]

So that said making the maintenance the substation MUST be de-energized to enter in the transformer disconnect the secondary section of the transformer, make all testings necessary then test all the breakers - secondary injections to see if all the settings are in position and if the breaker is closing and opening like it should.

[007sae]

For preventive maintenance the Electrical Contractor must be a Electrical Testing Contractor, they are the ones that test all the transformers including oil test, breakers, d/s, SF, Bus Bars, Clean Insulators.etc. etc.

[007sae]

Its too bad the the Electrical Contractor made something bad there..That damage could cause probably 2M, it has switches and couple of transformers.. Dont know well if it was a 38KV or a 115Kv but still its a huge investment.

[007sae]

Maintenance with the Substation Energized??



[squattasphix]

another union fuck up.

doggers

[back9a]

"Quick honey, Get the garden hose!" LOL

[HighVoltageZap]

Never mind. I watched the end and saw the rest of the damage. 15,000,000.00 +

[HighVoltageZap]

Probably a station like that would cost $1,000,000 + to rebuild, depending on the size of that transformer and how much other equipment was damaged.

[BadIdeaCo]

It's shit like that that keeps rasing our electric rates.

[DjRaveKing]

It all went horribly wrong ... so how much did the power providers have to pay for the new transformers ?

[PhrostyPhoenix]

Transformer smoke. Don't breath this! (Will it Blend Dude)

[EeRocKK]

Great catch! I love the stills in the video!

[scarycatsscaringcats]

great pictures.... huh

[fatbradlehs]

how long did it take to fix??

[powertoolification]

@PAVN this is OTTAWA, the rest of canada has a half working HYDRO safety relay box or two..,

[PAVN]

Canada sucks dick. Deserves the fire.

[Railrodder]

Wow! Some pretty amazing footage!

 Thanks for sharing this!

[flyrock45]

Canotek rd?

[Core5]

@flyrock45 Yep. At Shefford rd.

[pcfxer]

LOL Yeahhh someone EFFED up lol!

So that was BLACK CHARRED steel that I saw...my Dad didn't believe my hypothesis. I think we are still on our joining stations.

[seasidecrime]

well that's gonna take a while to rebuilt

[Gallski7]

@PoppaBlue59 Aanndd thank you for proving my point. Have a wonderful day my friend. Sincerely, Your Daddy

[R3MIXKILL]

woooow drink beer an peeing on fire :)

[m1o2b3y4]

wow! u'd be ded if that exploded. how'd it catch on fire?

[Core5]

@m1o2b3y4 a switch malfunctioned while it was being worked on by a small crew.. Which caused a major overload, and started the transformer fire. Witnesses said the saw the transformer glow white hot before it exploded.

[m1o2b3y4]

wow! u'd be ded if that exploded. ho'd it catch on fire?

[Mrwilson0506]

how long was the power out for?

[Core5]

@Mrwilson0506 Power was restored early the same evening by connecting us to neighboring grids.

[Mrwilson0506]

how long was the power out for?

[Gallski7]

Dear firefighters,

Water conducts electricity. 

Sincerely,

Common sense

[doogrisa]

@Gallski7 ya but it worked.

[chrischoy9]

@Gallski7 water does not actually conduct electricity, Water is made of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom. They form covalent bonds. Covalent bonds to not contain charged atoms or molecules. Therefore, electricity is conduced ONLY if water contains signs of salt etc.. which is a ionic bond

Sincerely,

first unit of IGCSE Chemistry

[Core5]

@chrischoy9 That it all true. But in reality, firefighters use municipal water. Municipal water is not distilled, and contains impurities, which will conduct electricity. Which is why before a single drop was put onto the fire, the firefighters waited for the power to the substation to be turned off.

[Gallski7]

@chrischoy9 Nicely done! Although I've never heard of a fire department using purified water to put out a fire. .. Never the less, the run off coming from their hoses will be the main hazard; the water will pick up particles from the ground, thus becoming a path for the electricity to flow and becoming an electrocution hazard. 2nd, the transmission lines feeding substations are relatively high voltage, and when voltage is that high, air can become a path for electricity when you are too close.

[PoppaBlue59]

@Gallski7 Yes it does...and they know that. That's why the ALL went home at the end of their shift, junior.

[Gallski7]

@PoppaBlue59 Junior? Lol. And how long have you been a firefighter queer bait? If you want to argue, always remember, arguing on youtube is like the special olympics, you may win but you you're still retarded. Food for thought JUNIOR!

[PoppaBlue59]

@Gallski7 I have been a paid firefighter for 24 years. I also volunteer in the rural community where I live. Is "queer Bait" and " Retard" your best shot? Chew on that for a while, junior.

[Gallski7]

@PoppaBlue59 Thank you for proving my point....hope you take gold big guy!!!

[ghostdrew1]

u was wayyy to close near the end

[Core5]

@MrMeddled The coolant was exploding from the heat and pressure within the transformer casings. You can actually hear them hiss and pop at about 3:20 and then it really got big. I believe they use mineral oil as a coolant now. It's safer for the environment than CFC were. However it's flammable... 

[Gearheadvideosinc]

LOOK ITS OWNED BY BP!!!

[Gearheadvideosinc]

LOOK ITS POWERED BY BP HAHAHAHA

[janmadytay]

@bobI78 I'M not sure about that but this one is in Ottawa Canada...

[anagennao]

2:12 ... wanna eat some mushrooms?

[Core5]

@anagennao I was thinking marshmallows..

[88ariesk]

@Core5 Mmmm Cancermallows! All those wonderful carcinogens makes them have an extra kick!

[fury614]

@anagennao lol that funny

[fury614]

@fury614 lol it me

[sopor0qv]

@anagennao Yes, it's strangely beautiful. I'm sorry it happened and I hope nobody got hurt but I am definitely watching it over and over because it's gorgeous.

[Jeffersxxl]

@anagennao LMAO!!

[Stebraul]

two things that tell you when you're way to close:

1) There's flames over your head

2) You can feel it

[sharppointy1]

Excellent video- thanks- like the intermix of still and video

[firedude201234]

you were way to close.

dont tell me im wrong, i am on my local auxiliary fire department

[Core5]

@firedude201234 I agree. I was too close.

[firedude201234]

@Core5

good to hear...... just be carefull man, get to close one time and you may never be able to film again D:

[cchanderson]

@Core5 So what does burning PCB's smell like anyway? Have you started to twitch yet? Maybe some restless nights sleeping?

[ccoraxfan]

@cchanderson They haven't used PCBs in decades. The only place you'll find them is in very old installations, and most of these have been removed. This substation appears too new to have any PCBs.

[TrickGnomeTechnician]

@firedude201234 You have to get close for the good shots!

[Sublime111192]

You can spray water on it if they cut the power off to the grid

[randomvideowatcher]

Is that what you call the hotline?

[MrRedeyedJedi]

how long was it until you guys got your power back?

[Core5]

@MrRedeyedJedi Not long. The power was brought in from neighboring grids.

[JetMechMA]

God almighty, at 5:00...you can't spray water on an electrical fire! What the.....?

[Core5]

@JetMechMA They waited for the power to be shutdown before they started pouring water on it.

[JordieG8]

@Core5 Exactly, a class C fire usually turns into a Class A fire when you kill the power.

[jrmcferren]

@JordieG8 Normally that is the case, but in this case it was actually a class B fire since the transformer oil was burning. For most household electrical fires it would be a Class A.

[MrRedeyedJedi]

@JetMechMA i think the power had been isolated from that sub station in advance.

[JetMechMA]

@MrRedeyedJedi I would have let the power company workers pour the first water on it. Just sayin.

[barf245]

@JetMechMA so long as no electricity is flowing it is a Class A Fire.

[JetMechMA]

@barf245 I see. Thanks.

[JetMechMA]

Those houses are so cookie cutter, it's unbelievable.

[s0012823]

I love SF6

[xsasukaxuchihax]

Holy shit! Wheres Super Man and his frozen lake when we need him?!

[enigma800]

Excellent footage! Thanks for posting. 

[SHEEK905]

Wow that's high quality!.. not the switch.. the video.

[Aussie50]

Thats an impressive carbon footprint!, just awesome!

and they tell me off for burning a few appliances ;)

[made4speed1]

noticed the snow pile on the inside of the fence, Idioit in a snow blowing unit throwing it in there or loader tosssing it over? just a thought snow doesn't fall in big piles like that by itself. i do snow removal for a livining.

[termitemfp]

@made4speed1 some transformers are equipped with a halon / fm200 suppression system to put out fires and the chemical is white. This may have been what you saw.

[quantum075]

cool video and stills, GREAT resolution! What do you use for a camera?

[randomsrvapps]

ever since Singapore owned the grid here in Australia they don't maintain the grid properly this shit has been happening all the time and we get voltage fluctuations from 180v-250v not to mention all the fluorescent lights everybody is using with NO power factor correction now everything uses double the electricity it should..

[ljmike1204]

that burns good how long did it theek to repair it al ?

[Core5]

@ljmike1204 It was completely torn out. And all the contaminated soil was taken away. Then a temporary 'mobile unit' was installed. A new permanent one is not yet ready for installation.

[lalapubpub]

@Core5 more than one year after and still not definitely fixed !!! amazingly slow

[GrantLogan2]

@lalapubpub i know!...that surprised me...Here in new brunswick NB Power would have a whole new substation in there up and running in about 12 hours!

[Core5]

@GrantLogan2 Perhaps what's in place now isn't going to get replaced. It looks pretty small to me though.

[laurynas102]

fake

[R3MUS2007]

thats not good for the environment. >.>

[faffaflunkie]

This must have been during your three weeks of summer up there.

[Core5]

@faffaflunkie We can get -40°C/F in the winter, up to +40°C/104°F in the summer here in Ottawa. Few places in the world have such a temperature range. Winter usually lasts from mid November to the end of March/April. Our summer is shorter, usually from mid June to the end of August or mid September, or about 3-4 months, not 3 weeks.

A bit different from New Jersey's, wouldn't you say?

[faffaflunkie]

@Core5 I always thought the U.S. east coast had shitty weather with all the rain (40 in. on average). It makes me appreciate California where people howl if the temperature dips into the 50's (F) in January. In the summer though even Denver is nice.

[portumadre]

@Core5 not too much different actually

[liquid49286]

Next time, throw snowballs at the fire

[pmgodfrey]

Mmmm...Toasty!

[hiewy]

see that it had a alstom sign on it

[redsquirrelftw]

that's a fast way to melt the snow lol

[oracle2world]

You don't sound Canadian, eh?

[maximilli111]

This is funny.

[Thetrutv]

What makes that thing burn?

[metermatch]

@Thetrutv Thousands of gallons of transformer oil.

[MrTodd198126]

Shit man! I love transformers! But do you know that these suckers are mostly robots in disguise? Yep, there just waiting to transform some day and then those bad boys will surely kick your ass. Just don't say i didnt warn ya! But thats what you get for mocking a burning decpeticon.

[heyeveryoneimcool]

PCBs or not, I wouldn't be anywhere near a substation fire.

[scason]

you wouldn't think metal and rubber would burn that hot, huh?

[classikstyle]

@scason You'd think all that snow would melt with so much fire...

Maybe they should have bust out some shovels and started throwing it into the sub station.

[lexmarks567]

so is your power restored yet

[Core5]

@lexmarks567 The power was only out for a few hours after the fire.

[muscle423]

hey can you guys go to my channel and leve a coment. muscle423

[letseeitplease]

excellent video and stills coverage,, thanks for a job well done, i enjoyed seeing this

[ljmike1204]

call the cops its a eligal Barbeque

[rugscrub]

burning transformer oil stinks i can smell it now just watching

[ryanwhibbs]

We had a similar fire in Peterborough when I was young. I dont remember why it happened or anything but I do remember the solid black smoke reaching km's into the sky.

[nixter000]

hey this is in gloucester right? i used to take the bus down there when i went to Henry Munro.

[Core5]

@nixter000 Yeah that's right. This is not that far from Henry Munro. Which I also used to go to school there too.

[demonbreed131]

wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh­hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh­h shit that looks close man Ruuuuuun ruuuun

[lexichronicle2]

IT'S A TRAP! RETREAT!

[gavincurtis]

Good grief..... all those houses at the beginning look the same..... like cookie cutout stamp o matics.

Are you at least able to select a different paint color? Any individualism? Or just robots in enclosures?

[sorrybutEXPOSED]

OTTAWA 613.

thats tragic.

[bobl78]

why do all the transformes and substations in the US explode ? youtube is full of use transformers burning,  In germany these things are very very rare..., they work for decades without incidents or fires.. do you have poor maintenance or shity technology ?

[MavDude]

This is not in the US...

[flagellarpower]

@bobl78 there are more transformers in the US, so the probablity of one exploding is greatly increased. For instance, if one in every million transformers explodes (hypothetically), if there are 200 million in the US say, then 200 will explode, while maybe Germany only has, say, 10 million, so only 10 will blow up.

[fucktopyo]

right answer!!!

[flyboy5595]

@bobl78 american infrastructure fucking sucks no matter where you go, my power just came back on after 3 hours, as i watched a line of transformers explode in front of me.

[plateofshrimp]

Probably both

[ABCRICARDO32]

bigger country, more transformers ergo more problems.

and there's probably around same % of accidents tho.

(I'm not american either)

[saguaro23]

yes we do.

[sleeptyper]

@bobl78 In Europe we have way better overload and shortcut control systems, for example tree branches cause a 1min long automatic power-off on contact. If fault repeats, power is off until ground crew asks it to be plugged on... At least this is in Finland :) This is why we never hear of boom trucks burning :)

[bobcatnickrocks]

@bobl78 Poor maintenance. Every one who joins maintenance is fat slobs that does nothing. Except IT guys. That job is fun.

[Wasserkoenig]

@bobl78 the maintenance is good but the technology is made in china!

[hnd4me]

bet u were without power for a couple days O.o

[Core5]

@hnd4me

Fortunately the power was restored later that evening by connecting us to neighbouring grids. :-)

[unkel1978]

and they yell at us with our diesels blowing black smoke. ha

[sqhschief]

@unkel1978 Hell yeah, diesel ftw!

[protectoroffaith]

i bet that got toasty rather quickly FUCK ME SIDEWAYS YAHOO

[Aussie50]

Thats a nice oil fire!, very impressive!

[0815tobey]

LOL did anyone notice, that the fence ( 2:40 ) is build wrong? You can easy climb in and hard climb out. Is that fence supposed to keep arcs and fires inside?? ;-)

[gavincurtis]

@0815tobey

It's Canadian. It is a foreign land and things are different than you and I understand :D

Cold temperature slows things down a bit.

[marky4e]

@gavincurtis

LOL, you guys are probably wondering "Where are all the Igloos" well sorry to disapoint you yanks but since the Lumberjack Revolution we build houses now! We just figured igloos all look alike so why not our houses. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[gavincurtis]

@marky4e

I am just a wee bit beneath the border :) I like Canadians actually! Just can't understand some things... like your houses and ever try to repair something "state of the art" electronic built in Canada?

Example, your Logging equipment computers....  2004 built 600,000 US dollar Canadian log processing machine always broke down by a 1970's era 8 bit digital processor with separate RAM, ROM and EEPROM. But this computer was built in Canada in 2004?

[wlfee1969]

@gavincurtis These firms understood the upcoming crash of 2008 unlike most Americans oblivious to anything but their immediate surroundings...

The idea was to get rid of aging outdated overhead!

What better way then to apply this concept to the American logging industry!

Helps the environment by slowing the process, and is good for the manufacturer's bottom line.

Just hope that they are not developing sensitive equipment for the new reactor being built in Florida!

Just kidding...

[gavincurtis]

@marky4e

Imagine a Zilog Z80 in a 50lb steel box that only has to read a single encoder and 5 input proximity switches to give information on a SIMPLE 5 digit LED display. One digit more than a clock radio.

In Canada 2004, it takes a 50lb steel box housing a Zilog Z80 with its external 2K RAM and 4K EEPROM on TWO 15" x 12" circuit boards..... with inches of space between every chip.

You guys ever make a cell phone, it needs a trailer hitch.

But mechanics/hydraulics you are great engineers.

[Core5]

@gavincurtis I'm not sure what all the Canadian tech bashing is all about. But I'll have you know that the Blackberry is developed here and managed by RIM (Research In Motion) of Waterloo Ontario. Trailer hitch not included.

[protectoroffaith]

@Core5 OH SNAP!!!! And if im not mistaken this happened in 03 in the states and it fucked us up for a few days

[Javaguru555]

Transformers - More than meets the eye...

[w5cdt]

How about non-flammable transformer oil? Like DowTherm for instance?