THE ESB is currently working to restore power to homes in the Mizen peninsula area after a swan ‘impacted’ with power lines, possibly leading to a gorse fire in the area of Kealfadda Bridge.
The ESB says 973 customers are currently affected and estimates power may not be restored until 9pm tonight.
ESB Networks personnel from Dunmanway depot attended the overhead line fault near Kealfadda Bridge, at Toormore on the Schull side of Goleen this morning, the ESB said today.
‘Conductors on the infrastructure were damaged, apparently by a swan impacting on the line. A gorse fire (possibly caused by the fallen conductors) at the scene has been tackled by the Fire Service units from Bantry and Schull, facilitating safe access to the network for our network technicians.’
The statement, issued to The Southern Star, added: ‘Damage to the network and an associated switching of the lines is significant and repairs are still in progress.’
The ESB expects supply to be restored to all customers this evening. The estimated restoration time is 9pm and it said it apologised to all impacted customers.
A tourist contacted The Southern Star this afternoon to say they heard what appeared like ‘screaming animals’ just before the gorse fire ignited.
Customers can keep up to date with the progress of the repairs at powercheck.ie
*****
Click here to sign up to our mailing list and get the best of West Cork delivered straight to your inbox.