Mount Wellington substation fire cuts power to Auckland suburbs

The outages include traffic lights, and Auckland Transport says affected motorists should follow give-way rules, and take extra care. Photo / Sam Sword

Thousands of Vector customers in Auckland were without power following a fire at a Panmure substation this afternoon.

Auckland suburbs surrounding Mount Wellington such as Panmure are without power after the fire caused significant damage to electrical equipment.

"Significant damage to electrical equipment has since caused a power outage to some 6,000 customers in the Mt Wellington area and surrounding suburbs," a Vector spokesperson said this afternoon.

By 7pm power had been restored to all but 443 customers.

A Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson says four crews attended a switchboard fire at the substation.

The fire has now been extinguished.

"At about 3.25pm this afternoon, emergency services were advised of smoke coming from a switchboard room at Vector's Mt Wellington zone substation.

"Firefighters have since contained the area and Vector's response crew are now able to assess the situation," the Vector spokesperson said.

The outages include traffic lights, and Auckland Transport says affected motorists should follow give-way rules, and take extra care.

Vector response crews are on the scene currently and are working on back-feeding electricity to the area from nearby power sources.

Vector are confident the power will be fully restored within the next few hours.