KEY POINTS:
An underground cable that burst into flames under the pavement in central Wellington this morning possibly overheated as a result of work being done to fix a power outage, a Vector Energy spokeswoman said.
Onlookers said the scene looked like a flame thrower coming out of the pavement. The fire began just before 9am outside Real Groovy on Cuba St.
The flames leapt about 1.5m in the air.
Central fire communications shift manager Murray Dunbar said the fire was in a junction box under the pavement.
The power outage affected more than 4000 customers, all of whom were reconnected by 1.30pm.
Vector Energy spokeswoman Philippa White said there were two power outages this morning, one near Mount Victoria affecting about 4000 customers, and another around Tory and Victoria Streets, affecting about 400 customers.
The outages had been caused by a high voltage cable fault.
Ms White said it was possible the fire had started due to a low voltage cable overheating as a result of the work being carried out to restore power to the affected areas.
- NZPA
