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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| London's Heathrow Airport closed all day Friday after fire causes power outage |
| 2025-03-21 |
| [FoxBusinessNews] One of the busiest airports in the world will be closed all day Friday after a fire caused a "significant" power outage. London Heathrow Airport (LHR) said it is "experiencing a significant power outage across the airport due to a large fire at a nearby electrical substation." "Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored. To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we made the decision to close Heathrow until 23h59 on 21 March 2025," a spokesperson for the airport told Fox News. "We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens," the spokesperson added. "We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available. We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation." The airport was anticipating up to 291,000 passengers on a total of 1,351 flights on Friday, Reuters reported. The London Fire Brigade said approximately 70 firefighters and 10 engines responded to the fire just before midnight on Thursday at the electrical substation on Nestles Avenue in Hayes. "This was a very visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible," Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said in a statement, adding that the fire was under control by 6:30 a.m. Though there were no injuries, the brigade said 29 people were evacuated from neighboring properties and 150 others were evacuated from a 200-meter perimeter that was established out of precaution. "The fire has caused a widespread power outage, affecting many homes, local businesses, and Heathrow Airport. While power has been restored to some properties, we continue to work closely with our partners to minimize disruption," Goulbourne said. The fire brigade will remain at the scene throughout the day to assist the National Grid, which owns the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #5 I just listened to a podcast out of the UK that forecasts this sort of thing and more. Highly recommended. The coming British civil war: Louise Perry and David Betz. |
| Posted by: Glolutch Tingle1702 2025-03-21 20:40 |
| #4 Image looks suspiciously like an explosion, not a fuel oil fire. Interesting sub headlines in Sky News: "Sky video Heathrow closure: Back-up generator that could have kept airport open also 'affected by fire'" "Counter-terrorism police leading investigation into fire that closed Heathrow Airport" |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2025-03-21 14:18 |
| #3 Yeah, they hopefully have CCTV cameras that watched that substation (like they have everywhere else in GB). I'd be curious to see if this fire had 'help'. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2025-03-21 11:37 |
| #2 Thousands disrupted and flights cancelled across UK as Heathrow closes after substation fire |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2025-03-21 05:51 |
| #1 Flight chaos across the world with hundreds of planes forced to divert or turn around as huge fireball shuts major airport... and disruptions could last days |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2025-03-21 04:44 |