Two workers in critical condition after blast and fire at ESB station

TWO workers remained in a critical condition last night after suffering serious burns following an electrical explosion and fire at the country’s biggest ESB generating plant yesterday.

The men, not named, were transferred to the burns treatment unit of Cork University Hospital after an incident at the Tarbert generating station in County Kerry.

A third injured remained in a stable condition at Tralee General Hospital.

The ESB said last night that production was unaffected by the blast.

Both the company and the Health and Safety Authority are today preparing to conduct separate investigations.

Colleagues reported a lunchtime flash from the switching gear room where the seriously injured men were operating. The unit was last night sealed off.

The ESB said 160 people are employed at the site. All staff were immediately evacuated after the explosion.

The main electricity generating plants were unaffected by the explosion and fire.

A worker at the plant last night said: “Nothing as serious as this occurred before. Everyone accepts it was an accident.”

The ESB said ambulances and fire brigade services were immediately alerted and the plant’s emergency plan swung into action. Station manager Gerry Crane said the cause of the accident remained unclear.

The company said it will co-operate fully with the Health and Safety Authority.

Commissioned in 1969, the Tarbert plant, which was upgraded in the mid-1970s, has four units producing 620MW of power. The company said two 60MW units were last night continuing to produce power for the ESB’s national grid. At the time of the accident, a 250MW unit was already out for maintenance on the plant.

Workers said the explosion occurred oil-fired power station around 12.40 pm. First aid was administered to the men at the scene before the arrival of the emergency services.

The ESB said the switch-gear room contains 6,600v voltage circuit breakers which supply power to the Tarbert plant auxiliaries such as fans and pumps.

The ESB said there were three people present in the room at the time of the explosion.

The company said, under an emergency plan, trained staff at the plant rendered first aid before the arrival of the emergency services.