Guernsey Electricity has contracted engineers to carry out work at Sous les Hougues following a recent fire caused by failure of switchgear equipment in one of its sub-stations, near the Water Treatment Works at Juas.
The fire caused a fifth of the island to lose power temporarily earlier this month.
‘Unfortunately, due to the precise location of the work in proximity of a granite wall, a section of wall collapsed over the weekend,’ said a spokesperson for Guernsey Electricity.
‘We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this incident may have caused.’
The Guernsey Press went to investigate the scene yesterday and spoke to one of the residents affected. She did not wish to be named, but said the incident had occurred around 1.15pm on Sunday, while she was at home.
‘All of a sudden my house shook, the ground rumbled and for a split second I thought an earthquake was happening,’ she said.
‘I thought maybe I was dreaming, but a neighbour then knocked on my door and told me to come and see.
‘It literally looked like a war zone.
'I would never have believed that I was standing only 10 yards from my front door. But I have to say, the guys worked like troopers to get it all cleared.
‘The project manager, I reckon he called in every favour he possibly could do on a Sunday afternoon. There were loads of people here helping, lorries and all sorts. They were very quick to rectify the mess. I reckon it was all cleared by 5pm.
‘John Tostevin, the Guernsey Electricity health and safety lead, was out here, too, checking on us all. Everybody that needed to be here was here.
‘I’m just so grateful that nobody was hurt. Because if that had landed on somebody, they wouldn’t have survived. Walls can be rebuilt, but lives – you can’t get them back.’
Guernsey Electricity explained that the ongoing work is essential to prevent a recurrence of the earlier incident at the sub-station and to continue providing a secure supply of electricity. The spokesperson said that after the wall collapse, its team attended the site, and worked with its contractor and local residents to clear the area for repair to be undertaken at a later date.
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