Heathrow airport live: Government orders urgent investigation into fire as flight delay chaos continues

After the Metropolitan Police confirmed the fire is believed to be “non-suspicious”, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) announced it is now leading the investigation which will now focus on the electrical distribution equipment in Hayes.

The LFB said the investigation to establish the exact cause could take weeks.

Commenting on the incident, London Fire Brigade Deputy Commissioner Jonathan Smith said: “London Fire Brigade received 212 calls to a fire in a high voltage substation near Heathrow Airport.

"The fire involved a transformer comprising 25,000 litres of its cooling oil fully alight. This created a major hazard owing to the still live high voltage equipment and the nature of an oil fuelled fire.

"Ten fire engines, two Bulk Foam Units and one High Volume Pump were on scene at the peak of the incident – this equates to approximately 70 London Fire Brigade personnel.

"Our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging and hazardous conditions overnight to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible.

"Firefighters safely evacuated 29 people from neighbouring properties, and as a precaution, a 200-metre cordon was established. Working with the Met police, around 150 people were evacuated to a rest centre. The majority of those people have been able to return to their homes.”

LFB will maintain a small presence on scene for the coming days to ensure any remaining hot-spots within the electrical equipment are fully extinguished.

Heathrow’s chief executive has welcomed the announcement of an independent investigation into the electrical substation fire that forced the airport’s closure on Friday.

In a statement, Thomas Woldbye, said: “We welcome the National Energy System Operator’s investigation into yesterday's National Grid electrical substation fire and on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure more broadly.

“We will support every effort to understand the causes and impacts of yesterday's off-airport incident and we are committed to working closely with all stakeholders to ensure a thorough investigation to help strengthen the airport's future resilience.”

In a double blow for travellers, the Heathrow Express has announced it will also be out of action tomorrow morning for upgrade work.

A Heathrow Express spokesperson said: “A gentle reminder: Due to planned railway upgrade work, Heathrow Express will be running a reduced service on Sunday, 23 March, with no service before 9.12am.”

Working with Ofgem, Ed Miliband is using Energy Act powers to formally launch the investigation. This follows the action taken yesterday to restore power to all affected customers.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “The loss of power to the Heathrow area has caused major disruption to thousands of people and many businesses. We are determined to properly understand what happened and what lessons need to be learned.

“That is why working with Ofgem, I have today commissioned the National Energy System Operator to carry out an investigation into this specific incident and to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure, both now and in the future.

“The government is determined to do everything it can to prevent a repeat of what happened at Heathrow. This review will be an important step in helping us to do so, as we deliver our Plan for Change.”

The Energy Secretary has today commissioned the independent National Energy System Operator to urgently investigate the power outage incident that impacted Heathrow Airport and the surrounding area.

Working with Ofgem, Ed Miliband is using Energy Act powers to formally launch the investigation. This follows the action taken yesterday to restore power to all affected customers.

NESO’s investigation will support efforts to build a clear picture of the circumstances surrounding this incident and the UK’s energy resilience more broadly so that it’s prevented from ever happening again.

The government’s Plan for Change is rebuilding Britain’s resilience, including boosting the country’s energy security with homegrown power. Separately, the resilience review led by the Cabinet Office is ongoing and is due to conclude in the Spring.

Although Heathrow Airport is now "fully operational" dozens of arriving flights have still been cancelled, according to Heathrow's live departure board.

It showed 34 flights that were due to leave the airport today have been cancelled including domestic destinations and international flights to New York and Paris.

And according to Heathrow's live arrivals board, 71 flights expected to arrive on Saturday have been cancelled including flights from Dubai and Doha.

Firefighters and workers were still at the burned out electricity substation on Saturday morning.

Alice Delahunty, president of National Grid Electricity Transmission, told The Times: “We don’t actually know anything at this stage about what’s caused it. Clearly the investigation that will ­follow will need to look at resilience.”

Asked about security at the site, which is surrounded by low metal fences, she said: “We have a number of very strict protocols — remote monitoring; security is something we take very seriously. The site is certainly secured.”

The Hayes substation is the only source that can power full operations at Heathrow.

The leading hotelier in the Heathrow area, Surinder Arora, has described the airport’s shutdown as “an embarrassment for the whole nation”.

The founder and chairman of the Arora Group said: “This matter has been an embarrassment for the whole nation and we welcome the Chair of the Transport Select Committee [Ruth Cadbury MP] suggesting this will be a matter for her committee to launch an inquiry into.

“Given the number of serious questions that need to be answered, a full investigation must be held at the earliest opportunity and at the heart of that must be how Heathrow can be so reliant on any single site or source for power.

“The Arora Group has questioned the capabilities of Heathrow’s management for many years and this is the latest exposure of showing how charging airlines and passengers the highest airport fees in the world does not tally with the best airport operations in the world.”

The sentiment was echoed by Lord Toby Harris, who heads the National Preparedness Commission. He told Channel 4: “It’s a huge embarrassment for the country that a fire in one electricity substation can have such a devastating effect.”

Jason Bona, owner of supply chain company PS Forwarding, told the Today programme the incident made Heathrow a "laughing stock" in the global freight community.

A woman accompanying a school trip from the US said flight cancellations at Heathrow on Saturday had resulted in a “stressful” end to the journey.

Speaking at the airport, Christine Eckles, 50, said: “It was a delay at first, a three-hour delay, and then we found out our flight to Chicago was cancelled.

“We’re having to work on how to get a new flight out with British Airways.”

Ms Eckles, who is accompanying students from Iowa, added: “It’s been stressful.

“We’re at the end of our trip and we have had a wonderful time in London and Paris, and everybody’s ready to go home and back to their spring break.”

Phillip Kizun found himself having to freestyle as he tried to urgently get from London to Dublin for a work trip during the Heathrow fire.

After finding out that his flight was cancelled, Mr Kizun, 58, took a train to Wales and then a ferry from the coastal town of Holyhead to the Irish capital.

Along the way he told The New York Times he met several tourists undertaking the same gruelling journey.

“It was an absolute real ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles,’” Mr Kizun said referring to the 1987 Steve Martin-John Candy comedy.