Fire-linked outage leaves nearly 20,000 Rotterdam-Zuid homes, businesses without power
A fire at a transformer station in Rotterdam-Zuid left nearly 20,000 homes, shops, and businesses without electricity on Sunday, disrupting public transport and knocking out traffic lights across parts of the city. Grid operator Stedin said electricity was not expected to be fully restored before 4 p.m.
The outage began around 8:15 a.m. after a fire broke out at a transformer station on Slinge, regional broadcaster Rijnmond reported. The fire was quickly brought under control, but power was cut to residential and commercial customers.
According to a spokesperson for the safety region, mobile phone service is difficult in affected postal code areas. “Use the phone only in emergencies,” the spokesperson advised. Emergency services remained reachable, according to authorities.
The outage also affected public transportation. RET said tram line 3 was suspended and tram line 5 was operating on a modified route. Metro services continued to run, but elevators and escalators were out of service at several stations, and travel information displays were intermittently unavailable.
Traffic lights were not functioning in parts of the city. Some shops and restaurants closed because of the lack of electricity.
Stedin technicians were working at the scene to restore power. Emergency services were also scaled up to assess the impact of the outage.
