Many villages in the prefecture of Arta, western Greece, were left without electricity for several hours early Thursday morning after a fire broke out in a nearby substation of power utility PPC.
Settlements in the mountainous part of the prefecture and in the Kambos area reported losing power after powerful successive explosions occurred shortly before midnight in a transformer at the Grammenitsa Extra High Voltage Center.
Immediately after the explosions, two small fires broke out within the facilities. The Fire Department rushed to the scene as the fire spread to grassland and forested areas next to the substation. The operation was particularly difficult as firefighters had to work through downed live power cables, risking electrocution.
By 10 a.m., power had been restored to all the villages, state-run broadcaster ERT reported.
