Skip to main content

Videos show fire at electrical substation that closed London Heathrow Airport Friday


Heathrow Airport in London is closed Friday after a fire at an electrical substation near the airport caused a power outage.

"Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage," the airport said in a statement on X. "To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March (8 p.m. ET Friday)."

A Heathrow Airport spokesperson told Paste BN Friday that fire crews responded to the incident but there is no clarity on when power may be reliably restored. The spokesperson added that the airport expects significant disruption over the coming days.

"We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available," Heathrow said in a statement. "We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation."

Passengers were advised not to travel to the airport Friday and to contact their airline for more information.

Videos show full scope of fire, smoke in west London

play
Smoke clouds billow from substation inferno wreaking havoc on London
A fire which was sparked at the North Hyde Electricity Substation wreaked havoc on west London as residents were left without power and Heathrow Airport was forced to close for almost 24 hours.

Multiple videos captured by people in west London showed the full scope of the fire that shut down Heathrow and is also affecting a large number of homes and businesses in the area.

London Fire Brigade said a transformer within an electrical substation in Hayes in west London was on fire. Fire crews responded to the scene at about 11:23 p.m. local time on Thursday and are working to extinguish the fire through the night.

By 4:08 a.m. local time Friday, the London Fire Brigade said half of the transformer remained ignited. Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters were responding to the incident.

play
'That's a biggie': Bus passenger get close view of west London fire
A fire that started at an electricity substation has wrought havoc in London, leaving thousands without power and forcing Heathrow Airport to shut down.

Additional video Friday morning showed firefighters working on putting out the remnants of the blaze at the substation.

play
Daytime footage shows firefighters still tackling blaze that shut down Heathrow Airport
Daytime footage showed firefighters still tackling the remnants of a blaze at an electrical substation that shut down nearby Heathrow Airport.

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at Paste BN. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.