A fire broke out yesterday afternoon at the Zhuyuan Extra High Voltage Substation in Hsinchu City, killing one person and leaving two injured, according to local authorities.
The Hsinchu City Fire Bureau said firefighters received a report at 3:27 pm of a suspected explosion and flames at the Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) facility in the city’s East District and arrived six minutes later to begin extinguishing the blaze.
The two injured individuals were sent to the hospital for treatment while firefighters implemented safety controls at the scene, the bureau said.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
A third person who experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was later pronounced dead.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation and firefighting operations were still ongoing as of yesterday evening, the bureau said.
Taipower said the fire occurred while voltage stabilization equipment at the substation was undergoing testing.
The incident caused a brief voltage drop affecting some power users in the Hsinchu Science Park but did not cause a power outage or disrupt the park’s electricity supply, Taipower said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said it did not expect the incident to “have an impact” and that its power supply was normal.
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