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'WE WERE PANICKING'
We live by ‘abandoned’ Heathrow substation & were left stranded in Asda car park after fire… it was unorganised chaos
Locals who have been living nearby for decades have had their say
A COUPLE who live next to the Heathrow substation which caught fire say they were left stranded in a car park for hours.
The blaze at the electrical substation cancelled well more than 1,300 flights, left scores of homes without power and disrupted countless lives.
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Heathrow Airport was shuttered for 15 hours with the chaotic fallout of the fire still leaving those around the transport hub reeling.
Residents were forced from their homes as thousands of properties were left without power.
Now, disgruntled locals say that that claims by the council that people were housed in hotels and nearby libraries are not true as far as they are aware.
Katrina Clements, 72, who has lived on the road for decades, claims they were left stranded in an Asda car park.
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She told The Sun: “There was a complete lack of communication. We were woken up to knocking on the door, and from then on it was chaos.
“We waited out on the street for an hour or more and no one from the council came.
“Someone told us to go to the Asda car park at about 2am because someone would be there, but we got there and there was no one."
Katrina continued: “So we decided to walk to the Premier Inn - they were lovely, they were the only helpful people all night.
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“There was just a complete lack of communication. Then we heard yesterday morning on the news that the council had housed 150 people in a library, but what people?
“We live on the street right next to it and they didn’t tell us to go to the library.”
Moment flustered Heathrow boss REFUSES to say if he should quit over fire chaos
Her husband Peter Clements, 81, added: “The only thing we did get told was to go to the local theatre, but that was at three in the morning.
“The police couldn’t tell us anything, and the firefighters were busy, and the council were useless.”
Their neighbour Savita Kaye, 51, shared these feelings. The fashion event organiser said: “No one told us anything, there was no communication.
“The emergency services were amazing, they were busy fighting the fire and keeping people safe, but there needed to be a liaison officer or something.
“You’ll find this funny, I heard about the Heathrow part of the story from my cousin in Alaska.
“He messaged me and said ‘heard about the fire’ and I thought a family member had told him but no, he said the news had gone international!
“I had literally no idea it was connected to the airport, I am scratching my head about how that works.
“They told us that no only had the bit that powered that been burnt, the back up had also been destroyed in the fire.
“If this power station is so important, why was the back up so close to the original? I just don’t get it.”
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CCTV footage taken from homes nearby shows the substation going up in a blazing inferno as shocked residents watched on.
But Manpreet Layal, 36, who has lived on the now world famous road for 20 years said locals have "hardly seen people who work in the power station".
She said: “We thought it wasn’t even working until what happened on Thursday night.
“I thought it was just there for bits and bobs, because we never see people working in there.
“They have a gate on the other side but I’ve never seen any security guards there and signs saying to watch out, power station, but nothing much.”
Her son, Jagraj, 15, added: “I got a video, the flames were like a tornado.”
Meanwhile, other residents revealed they have never seen security people guarding the crucial infrastructure.
A worker at a local business, who did not wish to be named, said: “We have security, lots of places around here do, but I have never seen anyone at the substation.”
Ramandeep Singh, 38, who lives just a short walk from the electrical site said: “I don’t see anyone in high-vis, the door is closed, but no one is ever in there.
His wife, Ravi Kaur, 35, added: “It makes you conscious because we have just had a baby and they say there is all this oil near the fire.”
The young mum had just got up to feed her baby when the inferno took hold, and was forced to feed the tot cold milk.
HEATHROW CHAOS
So far the family have not been told when the fire, which still had white smoke billowing from it on Saturday morning, will be extinguished.
Ravi said: “It’s scary, having this happen, it makes you worried about our safety.
“Someone told me the smoke is bad for you, toxic, and I am worried my son will be hurt.
“My mum came from India yesterday, but she came to Gatwick. But other friends haven’t been able to get back to their home country.”
Robert Sima, 31, who lives near where the blaze happened, was at work in a bar at a Heathrow hotel when it broke out.
The West Londoner, who has lived near the substation for 10 years, added: “There is no security, nothing, there’s never anyone there that I have seen. It’s locked and stuff but there isn’t any security.
“There’s lots of security around here for the warehouses and stuff, but literally nothing for there.
“I don’t understand how the hotel I work in didn’t lose power when the airport did, it doesn’t make sense.”
A Hillingdon Council spokesperson told The Sun that claims from locals were "unfair to officers who worked through the morning and night".
The full statement from Hillingdon Council read: “Upon notification of the fire, the protocols of the London Resilience Partnership were immediately activated, with extensive coordination between all organisations involved, including the London Fire Brigade, Metropolitan Police, power companies, the council, Highways Agency and rail networks among others. The emergency services led the response with the council and others supporting.
“To claim that that we have been slow in responding is both wholly inaccurate and unfair to those officers who’ve worked through the night and morning to protect the wellbeing of residents.
“As soon as we were notified, 13 minutes after fire was fire was first reported, our own emergency protocols were activated and emergency response teams worked tirelessly throughout the night with partner agencies to ensure residents were kept safe, supported and informed. The first council officers were on scene within half an hour.
“As well as having a strong presence on the ground in the immediate community, we’ve been keeping residents fully informed via our website, social media platforms and community outreach channels and helped residents calling into our contact centre.
“For residents whose homes were evacuated, 12 asked for council support and were given temporary hotel accommodation, though most other residents made their own arrangements. All 12 residents have now left the hotel and there are no ongoing accommodation support needs.
“We were also on standby to set up a rest centre at the Civic Centre, should it be required, however this was not needed.
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“Teams performed welfare checks on vulnerable residents or those with specific care needs, and nearby Botwell Green Library was made available for anyone seeking support and needing to access a computer, charge a phone or just get a hot drink.
“We continue to work closely with the London Fire Brigade, Heathrow and all other agencies to ensure we can offer the best possible support to those affected."
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