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SPOOKY spontaneous combustion!
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Pedestrians spooked as manhole ignites!
Betty Anderson21/ 5/2008
PEDESTRIANS got a shock when they spotted a manhole on fire on Brook Lane, Alderley Edge.
It appeared to be in a state of spontaneous combustion.
And not surprisingly, in a week when reports of unidentified flying objects were released, passers by were spooked.
But there was a logical explanation after calls to United Utilities. Electricity supplies to around 90 homes had to be disconnected while the fault was being investigated.
A utilities spokesman said: "We got a call about smoke coming from the manhole. We had to take 90 customers off supply while we repaired a cable and we restored power by 20:35. We do get faults on the system but this type of fault is fairly rare."
John Cookson of Brook Lane took a shot with his camera after spotting the blaze. He said: "The electricity link box was on fire. It was certainly a strange sight."
The link box which ignited is a type of junction box located under pavements to enable the electricity supply authority to route power to properties by alternative connections.
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