Electrician is ‘lucky to be alive’ after his van was ‘engulfed by a fireball’ as electricity transformer exploded while he was driving past
- Alan McIlwraith, 55, was showered with burning hot oil from the transformer
- He was driving along a country lane in East Carlton, West Yorkshire on Saturday
An electrician is ‘lucky to be alive’ after his van was seemingly engulfed by a fireball when an electricity transformer exploded as he drove past.
Alan McIlwraith, 55, said his van was showered with 60 litres of burning hot oil from the 11,000-volt transformer as he drove along a country lane in East Carlton, West Yorkshire on Saturday.
The fireball engulfed his van, melting the paintwork and almost frying him inside.
He said: ‘I’m lucky to be alive. I was driving along a very narrow lane at about 10mph when all of a sudden there was a huge bang and explosion.
‘My van was suddenly engulfed by a fireball. It was like someone had thrown a petrol bomb at my windscreen.
Electrician Alan McIlwraith, 55, is ‘lucky to be alive’ after his van was ‘engulfed by a fireball’
‘I was so shocked, I slammed my anchors on and pulled into a gateway.
‘I got out of the van and it was black, I looked down the lane and saw an electricity transformer billowing smoke and fire.’
Alan, who had his driver’s side window open, said he only escaped serious injury because luckily the blast came from the passenger side.
He said: ‘It was a warm night so I had my window open, but luckily the explosion was on the other side otherwise it could have been a lot worse.
‘But I still burned my arm and the side of my face a little from the immense heat.’
The self-employed electrician said people from a nearby house came running out to see if he was okay.
‘They were having a party and heard the bang. They came out and I asked them for a damp cloth to cool my arm and face down, it was as if I had bad sunburn. It’s nothing serious thankfully.
‘The fire brigade, police and ambulance turned up and paramedics checked me out.
‘I was very lucky not to get seriously injured.’
Veteran spark Alan said the explosion happened because oil used to cool down coils in the transformer had ignited
Veteran spark Alan said the explosion happened because oil used to cool down coils in the transformer had ignited.
A transformer is used to convert the incoming voltage at the location to the correct lower voltage for household use.
‘It’s an 11,000 kVA transformer on a post. There’s normally about 40-60 litres of oil inside which is there to cool the coils,’ he said.
‘And basically it has exploded and thrown all that oil on to my van and on to the road. The branches of a nearby tree were scorched as well.’
Shocked Alan said he was ‘wired’ after the close call and couldn’t get to sleep that night.
He added: ‘It was a bit of a shock, I couldn’t get to sleep until about 2am, I’m getting checked out by the doctor on Monday.’
Alan, who lives in Otley, West Yorkshire, said the paintwork on his van is ruined and there’s also damage to the interior.
‘I’ve just been to jet wash the van and it ain’t going to be white again. The paintwork is knackered and inside is smoke damaged, it’s knocked thousands off the value.’
He says he now intends to file a claim with Northern Powergrid who run the electricity supply in the area.
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