Greenlane residents without power after transformer goes up in flames

Firefighters were called to Greenlane overnight after a transformer caught fire and spread to a nearby power pole. Photo / NZH File

Residents in an Auckland suburb are without power this morning after a transformer and power pole caught fire overnight.

Firefighters were called to Puriri Ave in Greenlane around 1.30am, a Fire and Emergency spokesman said.

They found a transformer engulfed in flames, with the fire spreading to a nearby power pole.

Several streets in Greenlane were without electricity for around an hour, until 3am when Vector crews were able to get the power backup and running, leaving only a handful of residents on Puriri Ave in the dark, Vector said

Three fire engines were called to the scene after FENZ received multiple calls from concerned residents about the blaze.

There were fears it could spread to neighbouring properties, but no homes were endangered.

The transformer was destroyed and a shed in a nearby property was charred, but otherwise neighbouring properties escaped damage.

The fire was safely extinguished and crews turned the scene over to Vector, the FENZ spokesman said.

Vector's website said it was notified of the outage at 1.40am, and a crew was sent to investigate at 2.07am.

The fire tripped a feeder, a piece of equipment which supplies the local area with electricity, a spokesman said. This left several streets without power from around 2am until 3am, he said.

A pocket of residents on Puriri Ave were then the only remaining properties without power this morning, he said, and were likely to have their power restored by 8am.