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THE MASSIVE FIRE at an ESB substation in Dublin that left thousands of homes without power on Sunday night was caused by thieves attempting to steal copper wire, the electricity company has said.
Around 120,000 customers had their supply cut off after a blaze broke out at a transformer in the substation on Kylemore Way, in the Inchicore area of west Dublin.
Emergency services were called to the scene just before 7.30pm and ESB crews restored full power to the area after about 50 minutes.
The company said in a statement that an investigation has found the fire was caused by “third-party interference” at the site. The overall cost of the incident to the utility is estimated at up to €10 million, a spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that over 150 kilometres of copper valued at €3 million has been stolen from the ESB since 2012, costing around €28 million to replace.
ESB said any interference with electricity infrastructure is “a highly dangerous activity” that can put lives at risk.
It called on members of the public to be vigilant and report suspicious activity to gardaí.
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Parasites on normal society
It’s not their fault, it’s their culture, boss
Suspended sentences on the way if they are apprehended from their homes across the road
I think the police should be looking for the people who buy the metal from them, stop them and the trade stops.
It is about time it was made illegal for scrap yards to actually buy or possess copper wire, with no one to buy it there would be no point in stealing it.
I know most now won’t accept it without a Company Number. Most electricians save up off cuts and go at Christmas or before holidays for a bit of a bonus to themselves. So there is still a trade in selling it. Plumbers too no doubt.
Martin! don cut dat wire with the angle grinder.
Problem is a lot of it is done by international gangs they don’t even sell it here it’s put on container ship sent somewhere else to be sold
Scrap yards need looking into as do cash for gold shop’s.fencing is illegal
ffs! surprise surprise! Couldn’t cook dinner with my family because of the vermin roaming our country. Absolute vermin.
I would say these thieves were well travelled….
What kind of person would steal copper wire?
I imagine there’ll be a few nice caravans driving around with fine sets of copper alloys.
Ask pavee point – they may know…
Culture????
Very simple. Only pay into bank accounts and picture and document all scrap before paying for it.Proof of ID and PPS before transfer of money.Same for Cash for gold shops.
Really. You should go to the government with your suggestion. Such novel idea. Criminals will NEVER find a way around it. NEVER.
We had a minister for finance in this country allegedly without a bank account in the state FFS.
Ya you’re dead right let’s do nothing that’s always helped solve problems.
They’ll just ship it out of the country to other places where it will be bought.
They’ll just ship it out of the country. The best solution to the problem, hire more Garda, and Customs so that they can stop stolen goods leaving the country in containers.
Good luck with that.. Public Appointments just cut the Garda recruitment team in half last Thursday.
Shame they weren’t electrocuted
Amazing really how criminal gangs operate with such freedom and ease in this Republic.
The police are always chasing around after shadows.
In many instances the gangs carrying out this particular crime are non nationals.
Any non national committing crimes on this scale should be deported immediately. No excuses, they’ve surrendered the right to live here, put them on a plane back where they came from.
Ireland’s lax sentences send out the message that we are a soft touch.
And even if they are caught they’ll likely just get a slap on the wrist instead of lengthy jail time
What evidence is there to suggest that? Burglary, criminal damage and theft charges to start with, if convicted I can imagine the courts handing down heavy sentences.
And any examples of that happening?
It was reported last year as An Eastern European criminal gang.
Quote… Aug 2015.
There have been 48 power line thefts in Ireland this year alone, accounting for some 40 tonnes of material which could have a value of up to €240,000.
What kind of person would try and steal copper wire ?
A copper wire thief.
Somebody who knows its worth a few bob obviously. But am I missing something here , why will it cost 28m to replace 3m’s worth ??? Something very Irish about that
The value of the wire itself was €3m, to replace it includes not just the value of the replacement wire but the labour, etc that goes along with replacing it.
Nucky, that was the cost to replace all copper that has been stolen from ESB since 2012 – 150 kilometres of copper.
Labour costs obviously are multiples of the actual wiring to be replaced :)
And we all know how high the cost of labour is in the ESB these days.
Lads they have to repair or rebuild the transformer too!!!!!
if it cost that much, you’d think the ESB would have full-time security guards at the very least guarding it?
There was a motion put forward at South Dublin County Council a week ago to “Divert a stream from its current path and let it re-enter again. Reason? It was continously being used to cool copper wire after cables had been burned to extract the copper. So, instead of diverting the stream are you all thinking like me? Garda – Surveillance – Arrest – Jail? No?
They are going down the country, stopping on a section of road and cutting out miles of telephone cable.
Why would you risk ure life again 220,000 volts? Grow up. These stations maybe unmanned but probably it’s to reduce the risk of lives been taken. Hope their caught!!
And the worst thing is if the likes of these people got injured or killed they or their family could probably sue the ESB
And get paid out too
They would take the risk because as long as their is a fast buck to made beyond honest work these maggots will take full advantage of it.
Its a pity that these sc&m were not fried ,with the fire most of the electrical units were damaged and so have to be replaced ,any other units in close proximity will also have to be replaced in case of internal damage, It has happened in some robberies that the intruder was killed ,but a silence usually follows from the media , Hopefully at least these lowlifes are badly burnt and in severe pain ,
These facilities could be protected by setting bear/man traps (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXqf7ks7l7I). The traps could be inspected once a month in order to avoid unnecessary pain and suffering to the trapped animal.
Ccan’t understand how, just like that, the ESB can lose €28,000,000 worth of copper wiring. Have they no security, cameras, I mean €28,000,000 worth of stuff should take the Mission Impossible team to organise and execute, not a gang of barely literate, knuckle draggers. I blame the ESB here. If you have stock of that much value, look after it. Heads should role.
It wasn’t just laying around you know. It was stuck to a big greasy pole. With electricity running through it an’ everything.
€28 million? Since 2012 €3 million worth of copper wire has been stolen. It’s at the bottom of the story.
The value is 3,000,000 not 28,000,000. The ESB has many many power stations around the country, it would cost more than 28,000,000 to man them all 24/7 to make sure they weren’t robbed.
The ESB don’t just have a big vault of copper wire that they’re not minding, that’s just sitting waiting to be robbed, it’s being used in power stations across the country.
It will cost the ESB 28,000,000 to replace. 3,000 is the junk yard value. Did you not read the article.
Don’t have to “man” them just secure them better. An electrified security system should be a piece of **** to the ESB. And it’s like it’s “copper wiring” and a a known section of Irish society are completely unacquainted.
Your right Marg why blame the criminal, sure it’s his job to rob and he probably has monthly targets to meet, and would be on a zero hour contract and a family at home to feed. The ESB are utterly careless having a fenced and locked substation in the middle of nowhere and what do they expect leaving they wires carelessly dangling in the air running to peoples houses sure what do they expect, they are asking them to be robbed they should send the electricity wirelessly and that would cut out these problems wouldn’t it.
>An electrified security system should be a piece of **** to the ESB
What do you think the ESB does with wires? Pretty sure the copper wires themselves are electrified.
The value to the ESB of the copper wire that was stolen (not “lost”) is 28mil, that doesn’t make it 28mil worth of stuff the theives took. They can’t sell the man-power and logistical stuff that pushes the costs up to 28mil for the ESB.
Maybe they should put up an electric fence to protect it…
Jeez Veronica. The value that matters the most is the replacement value. Who give a toss what the thieves get for it.
It will cost the ESB 28,000,000 hard cash to replace. The ESB should value their stock at that and mind it a little better.
There are rules as to how a business values it’s stock, Marg. You can’t just pick a replacement cost and stick it in the balance sheet.
Maybe a solar panelled electric fence to ensure continuity of supply at reasonable cost.
How can copper wire valued at 3 million cost 28 million to replace?
@Mark Norris. Labour logistics and administration costs. Almost forgot it’s the ESB.
How can a car with €500 worth of steel cost €30,000 to replace!
3 million would be scrap values
28 million is what it would cost to buy the replacement cables and cost of labour and tools for the repairs. Also ESB get charger per customer without supply
Asked and answered already read the comments
I would think 3 million is the scrap value, the cost of new replacement wire, labour and disruption would be substantially more.
And consider the thing went up in flames as well might count towards something.
€28 million worth of damage? With that kind of money involved why isn’t the place protected like Fort Knox?
If you blow up any public infrastructure, the bill will be big.
The cost of the copper was 10 million, unfortunately in this country if it’s worth 10 quid they’ll try and rob it. If you had 10 million worth of copper would you leave it unguarded?
Think it’s time the Guards launched ‘operation copper face Jack’
Culture.
Copper wire looks lovely when it’s wrapped around a rhino horn.
these transformers have a big fat copper earthing strap that earth voltage spikes no earth fire or explosion possible these lunatics cut them off with hacksaws consaws spike comes while your doing this you will loose a limb at best time for serious jail time for interfering with national infrastructure
It’s their culture.
Up goes the lecky bill
Dirty travellers no doubt.. Hopefully they got fried…
Cultural difference ….. Boss
Surely someone got a few quid to buy some cheap cider. So it’s not all bad.
Even if people who did this are caught all they will get is a suspended sentence
There was a time when a suspended sentence meant the rope.
Yeah and that wasn’t a good time…
Couldn’t be any worse, people afraid to walk around the place, checking every door and window all the time, not answering doors, no policing. Some republic .
€3 million of copper wire has been stolen, costing €28 million to replace? How does it cost 9x the value to replace it?
I have a €10 note. I’m going to sell it to ESB for €90.
You have to pay for the replacement copper, the repairs to where it was removed from, transport, labour, planning, and after all that, factor in the cost of shutting down the system so the repair can take place, which is a factor of how long it takes.
We need something like this, only for securing copper wire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U4ZYOBzEEs
As the income gap continues to grow we will see more and more crime of this sort.
So the copper in those wires, scrapped, is worth EUR 20 per meter!!! It’s no wonder thieves try and steal it!!!
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