Blackout affects 60 thousand units in Palhoça after fire at Celesc substation; theft is suspected; VIDEO

An explosion followed by fire in a substation of Centrais Elétricas de Santa Catarina (Celesc) left around 60 thousand consumer units without electricity in Palhoça (SC) in the early hours of this Wednesday (4). Preliminary information indicates that the fire started after an attempt to steal cables.

Residents recorded the moment of the incident. The images show that the flash caused by the flames was seen from several neighborhoods (watch the video above). Nobody was injured.

At around 6:45 am, maintenance teams were working on repairs to normalize the service and assess the damage.

Palhoça is located in Greater Florianópolis and is the seventh most populous municipality in Santa Catarina. There are more than 253 thousand inhabitants, according to the Census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

The transmission line shutdown occurred at 2:09 am at the Palhoça Substation, in the Aririú neighborhood, on the banks of the BR-101 highway. The blackout hit the Center and the Bela Vista, Aririú and Barra do Aririú neighborhoods.

The Fire Department did not need to fight the flames, as the fire had already gone out when Celesc technicians arrived. However, a large short circuit damaged several pieces of equipment, the company said.

"Maintenance teams remain on site assessing the extent of the damage. Celesc continues to carry out maneuvers to transfer service to affected consumers to other substations in the region, seeking to reestablish energy supply as quickly as possible", informed Celesc.