Fire at Electrical Substation in Unión de Reyes Under Control

A fire that occurred in the midday hours of this Tuesday left the electrical substation located in the town of Alacranes, in the Matanzas municipality of Unión de Reyes, without power.

Yansay López Medina, director of the Territorial Basic Electric Organization (OBET), informed Radio Unión that approximately 3,700 customers remained without electrical service as a consequence of this incident.

Among the affected towns are Alacranes, Vito Falcón, El Estante, Puerto Rico, and part of the town of Unión itself — which includes two water pumping stations, the local polyclinic, the maternity home, the special school, and the OBET headquarters.

Substation specialists from the Provincial Electric Company appeared at the scene and confirmed, through preliminary diagnoses, that the substation’s infrastructure suffered structural damage.

So far the exact causes that originated the blaze are unknown, so the competent authorities have already begun investigations to clarify what happened.

In parallel, the OBET management is evaluating alternatives to gradually prioritize the restoration of service in the vital centers of the demarcation, while technical brigades work uninterruptedly to resolve the contingency as soon as possible.

Yaneisy Fuentes López, First Secretary of the Party in Unión de Reyes, explained to the press that after the fire a contingency measures plan was set in motion to mitigate the impact on the population and protect essential services.

Among the measures adopted, the leader said that a Command Post was activated in Alacranes that will operate 24 hours a day. This directing body will be permanently headed by an administrative cadre, a representative of the political group, and the delegates of People’s Power.

Among the immediate priorities is the water supply to the fundamental communities and institutions. To this end, distribution is being organized by tanker trucks (pipas), while animal-traction carts will be mobilized to draw water from the «La Piscina» Local Development Project (PDL) and ensure continuous supply to the vital services of the demarcation.

Fuentes López specified that in the Family Care System (SAF) a stew (caldosa) will be prepared and sold to the inhabitants. This initiative has the direct backing of the municipality’s agricultural cooperatives, which will guarantee the required inputs.

Local authorities urge the population to stay informed and have enabled direct communication channels through the Command Post’s representation to attend to any eventuality or emergency while work is underway to solve the electrical fault.

The telephone number 52141758 is available to attend to any questions from the population.

Written together with journalist Roxana Valdés Isasi