Residents hail 'the apocalypse' after grass fire in Upminster causes power cut across homes in east London and Essex

 
Power cut: the grass fire in Upminster caused a power outage (Picture: Twitter/@taylorhall11)
Rachel Blundy21 July 2015

Homes across east London and Essex were left without power this afternoon after a fire broke out on a field in Upminster.

The blaze sparked in Hacton Lane just after 4pm today, causing a power cut across properties in Romford, Havering, Upminster, Rainham, Brenwtood, Ockendon and Grays.

Two fire crews were called to tackle the flames just after 3.30pm, the London Fire Brigade said.

One crew remained at the scene this evening as they battled to contain the fire, which damaged some power cables.

Residents took to Twitter to complain about the power outage, with some claiming it was "like the apolocalypse."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">OMG!!! How annoying just had <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PowerCut?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-686-https://twitter.com/hashtag/PowerCut?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#PowerCut</a> past hour, no internet, even my mobile had <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoService?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-686-https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoService?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#NoService</a> Argh!!! Logging back online now— Holly Mcguire (@HollyMcguirexx) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/HollyMcguirexx/status/623527154316410880" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-686-https://twitter.com/HollyMcguirexx/status/623527154316410880" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 21, 2015</a>

Marc-James Dean said: "Power cut. At the checkout when I'm told to exit the store without my goods. I thought a backup generator would be the norm?! @Tesco Romford."

Page 3 model Holly Mcguire said: "OMG!!! How annoying just had #PowerCut past hour, no internet, even my mobile had #NoService Argh!!! Logging back online now."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">the whole of lakeside had a powercut as I was getting my eyebrows done. MY EYEBROW LADY CANNOT WORK IN THESE APPALLING CONDITIONS PPL.— Alba (@AlbaImeraj) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/AlbaImeraj/status/623527666872905728" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-686-https://twitter.com/AlbaImeraj/status/623527666872905728" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 21, 2015</a>

Rose Shalloo tweeted: "A power cut in Elm Park is like the apocalypse! Alarms going off everywhere, even Tesco came to a stand still."

Another tweeter wrote: "Absolute carnage out there in #Upminster #lakeside #powercut got stuck in car park as barriers wouldn't lift".

A spokesman for UK Power Networks said power had been restored to properties this evening.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Come back <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/power?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-686-https://twitter.com/hashtag/power?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#power</a> I cannot recline my armchair! <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hornchurch?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-686-https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hornchurch?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#Hornchurch</a> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/powercut?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-686-https://twitter.com/hashtag/powercut?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#powercut</a> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/firstworldproblems?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-686-https://twitter.com/hashtag/firstworldproblems?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#firstworldproblems</a>— kawsar (@KawsarI) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/KawsarI/status/623527684837109760" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-686-https://twitter.com/KawsarI/status/623527684837109760" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 21, 2015</a>

He said: “Following reports of damage to some of our equipment we received reports of power cuts affecting several areas in Essex at 4:15pm today and restored most by 4.47pm.

"There was a further interruption at about 5.05pm and all supplies were restored again by 5.18pm.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience and would like to thank customers for their understanding while we resolved the problem. We will continue to investigate the cause.”

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