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29/03/2004
BT tunnel fire cuts off Manchester phone lines
A fire in a BT utility tunnel has severely disrupted telecommunications in Manchester City centre.
Police have described the incident as "serious" as calls to emergency services have been affected.
Some 130,000 telephone lines have been cut off by the fire in the underground tunnel in Manchester.
Fire crews called to the scene had to descend 30 metres and then crawl 150 metres to reach the seat of the fire.
The cause of the fire has not been isolated and telephone lines in Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire and northern Derbyshire have been affected.
Ambulances in the Greater Manchester area are using mobile phones as the fire has knocked out the usual radio communications between ambulance controllers and crews.
Cheshire police have confirmed that the 999 service in the area is non-operational and people have been asked to use mobile phones to contact police in an emergency.
This afternoon, no estimate was available on the time to a repair as the tunnel was being ventilated to allow engineers access to the tunnel.
In a statement BT confirmed: "A fire in deep level tunnels running beneath the streets of central Manchester has caused extensive damage to cables and widespread disruption to phone services in Manchester and the surrounding area.
"The fire is affecting some 130,000 homes and businesses in the centre of the city. BT is currently assessing the extent of the damage and working to reroute and restore as many services as possible.
"However, the true extent of the repair will not become clear until the fire authority have declared the site safe and BT engineers can gain access to the tunnels. It is not possible at this stage to say how long it will be before all services are fully restored."
(SP)
Police have described the incident as "serious" as calls to emergency services have been affected.
Some 130,000 telephone lines have been cut off by the fire in the underground tunnel in Manchester.
Fire crews called to the scene had to descend 30 metres and then crawl 150 metres to reach the seat of the fire.
The cause of the fire has not been isolated and telephone lines in Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire and northern Derbyshire have been affected.
Ambulances in the Greater Manchester area are using mobile phones as the fire has knocked out the usual radio communications between ambulance controllers and crews.
Cheshire police have confirmed that the 999 service in the area is non-operational and people have been asked to use mobile phones to contact police in an emergency.
This afternoon, no estimate was available on the time to a repair as the tunnel was being ventilated to allow engineers access to the tunnel.
In a statement BT confirmed: "A fire in deep level tunnels running beneath the streets of central Manchester has caused extensive damage to cables and widespread disruption to phone services in Manchester and the surrounding area.
"The fire is affecting some 130,000 homes and businesses in the centre of the city. BT is currently assessing the extent of the damage and working to reroute and restore as many services as possible.
"However, the true extent of the repair will not become clear until the fire authority have declared the site safe and BT engineers can gain access to the tunnels. It is not possible at this stage to say how long it will be before all services are fully restored."
(SP)
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