A fire hit one of the power transformers of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in Barangay Dolores, Taytay, Rizal Wednesday night, resulting in power outages in some parts of the province and Metro Manila, including parts of Pasig that are still reeling from stagnant floodwaters spawned by storm “Ondoy”.

Parts of Marikina, San Juan, and portions of Quezon City also suffered from the outage that started shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday. Many areas have been placed under rotating brownouts as of Thursday.

Senior Fire Inspector Menandro Bastian, Taytay fire department chief, said responding firemen who went to the Dolores substation along Elwood Street had to mix some chemicals into their water tank to be able to extinguish the blazing transformer.

Firemen said they had a difficulty putting out the fire as the transformer was spilling hot oil, preventing firefighters from getting closer.

Supt. Manuel Pion, the town’s chief of police, said security guards of the NGCP claimed they heard a loud explosion before they saw the transformer on fire. Pion said the facility is fenced and well guarded, and that the possibility of sabotage was remote.

Fay De Jesus of the NGCP Corporate Communications Office said investigation into the cause of the blaze was still ongoing as of press time Thursday.

NGCP in a statement said it is in direct coordination with the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to immediately restore power in Pasig, Cainta, Marikina and San Juan which have been affected by the shutdown of the transformer.

Five 115-kiloVolt lines of Meralco draw power from the Dolores substation.

The NGCP said one of the four 300-MVA transformers caught fire, triggering the tripping of the other transformers and the 115-kiloVolt lines used by the Meralco sub-sector areas. The fire was contained at around 10:30 pm.

The NGCP said repair on the damaged equipment and requisite system tests were done before at least one transformer unit could be restored Wednesday night.

The other transformer units at the substation have also been cut off from the system because its control cables have been affected by the fire.

Meralco momentarily shifted the load of the Dolores substation to Zapote, Balintawak, and Araneta substations.

Meralco said it will implement rotating brownouts lasting three hours maximum twice a day in its franchise area in Metro Manila while the transformers are not yet available. As of 9:30 a.m. yesterday, 180 megawatts of power load have already been dropped from the Luzon grid.

Electricity in portions of Antipolo was restored around 11 p.m. Wednesday and in Taytay at around 1:15 a.m. yesterday, but the whole of Angono town remained without electricity as of 1 p.m. Thursday.

Power was again cut off in Taytay around 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

Energy Secretary Reyes has ordered the immediate restoration of power in the areas hit by rotating brownouts, considering that many affected residents have yet to recover from the recent flooding.

Reyes said the restoration of power in the areas is an imperative that he has made.

“I am confident that Meralco and NGCP will be able to re-establish connection of power in the areas and this should be done immediately. Restoring power will restore balance in those areas.”

Operations of Metro Manila’s railway systems were also affected.

The Metro Rail Transit which serves the North Avenue, Quezon City-Taft Avenue, Pasay route had to stop operations at 12 p.m. because of the power outage suffered by its Guadalupe (Makati), Boni (Mandaluyong) and Shaw (Mandaluyong) stations.

Operations resumed after about 40 minutes when power was restored to the affected areas but was again cut off at 2:15 p.m., according to MRT3 public information officer Lysa Blancaflor.

The Santolan, Pasig-Recto Avenue, Manila Line of the Light Rail Transit also suffered a disruption from 7:10 a.m.-7:25 a.m. because of the power outage. (With reports from James Loyola, JC Bello Ruiz and Rizal Obanil)