¿Power surge yobs could have killed our baby

A huge power surge sparked fires in dozens of homes causing more than £20,000 of damage after thieves stole a safety device from an electricity substation. The surge at 8am yesterday caused small fires and damaged electrical appliances at more than 100 homes in Westhoughton, Bolton. It also left 400 homes without power for more than 12 hours.

A huge power surge sparked fires in dozens of homes causing more than £20,000 of damage after thieves stole a safety device from an electricity substation.

The surge at 8am yesterday caused small fires and damaged electrical appliances at more than 100 homes in Westhoughton, Bolton. It also left 400 homes without power for more than 12 hours.

Firefighters were called to dozens of homes and said lives had been put at risk by the thieves. Michal Rybski, 25, said his seven-week-old son Filip is lucky to be alive after the power surge set fire to a baby monitor.

Michal, who lives with wife Anna in Townsfield Road, said: “The sound woke us up. It was like a little piece of dynamite.

“My wife picked up Filip and I ran downstairs and turned the power off. It was a shock, really strange.

“The fire people came and looked at the baby monitor to check it was safe. It’s only two weeks old. My wife was very upset. The blanket could have been set on fire.”

Fire crews were called to 71 homes and staff from electricity firm United Utilities checked more than 100 damaged TVs, washing machines, smoke detectors, freezers and power supply points.

May Wilkinson, 65, of Southfield Drive said both her TV and microwave were damaged.

“Suddenly I heard a noise. Then I saw smoke coming out of my digi-box. It shook me up. You don’t expect to see smoke coming out of your TV.”

The safety device was made of copper and was stolen for a scrap value of just £20. It is the third substation targeted by thieves in the Westhoughton area in the last fortnight.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Station Commander Paul Etchells said: “Luckily, in this incident, there were no developing fires but it could have been very different. There is no doubt people were put at risk here.

“Also we were fortunate there were no other fires we had to deal with at the same time as we had dozens of calls from people in this area.”

A spokesman for United Utilities said: “The thieves who took this copper put hundreds of people at risk for the sake of £20 but they also put themselves in grave danger.

“This is the third incident of its kind in the last two weeks and given the low value of the copper the thieves are targeting it is really difficult to understand – it is just not worth the risk.”