Questions are arising over the cause of a fire at Hayes electricity substation, which has plunged thousands of people into travel chaos after it forced the closure of Heathrow Airport. Over 1,300 flights could be affected as the UK’s busiest airport remains closed until 23:59 on Friday. The London Fire Bridage said 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters responded to the fire, where they found an alight transformer.
It is not yet known how the transformer caught fire, leading to questions regarding possible foreign interference from one of the UK’s adversaries, such as Russia. Defence analyst and consultant Nicholas Drummond said that while it was “unlikely” that Russia was behind the fire, the potential sabotage would be considered “a direct act of war.”
He told the Express: “If Russia was behind the fire, it would be sabotage. A direct act of war could potentially compromise the Ukrainian peace process.
“We must remember that Putin needs this as much as Ukraine does. So would he risk losing it by encouraging Trump to walk away and support the UK and NATO against him? I don’t think so.
“Independent of what Trump might do, the UK could decide to respond with further sanctions, including the use of Russian money tied up.”
Mr Drummond, a former British Army officer, stressed that Russia is currently not behind the fire. He added: “We will have to see what the investigation yields before jumping to conclusions.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband echoed this message, saying there was “no suggestion” of foul play.
He told LBC: “You may wonder whether that we know why this happened. At the moment, the focus is on restoring the power, we don’t yet have any understanding or real understanding of what caused … the fire.
“There’s no suggestion that there is foul play. That is, I mean, the conversation I’ve had is with the National Grid, the chief executive of the National Grid, and certainly that’s what he said to me.”
Passengers are being urged not to go to Heathrow Airport as it remains closed, and police are turning away people arriving on foot.
A spokesperson said: “To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on March 21, 2025.
“We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”