A power surge in Cospicua, which damaged numerous domestic appliances in the town on Monday night, also sparked a fire in a resident’s bedroom after the TV set blew up.
Enemalta said the surge happened after thieves broke into a substation and stole 10 metres of cable.
Robert Muscat, who lives on St Paul’s Bastion, rushed home from work after his girlfriend called him to say their bedroom was on fire.
It turned out their 32-inch TV set had blown up with the power surge while his girlfriend and her son were visiting their neighbours. The room was in flames and, a few minutes later, two fire engines were on site and controlled the fire, which did not spread beyond the closed bedroom door.
“We saw light bulbs bursting and smoke coming out of the window,” Mr Muscat’s girlfriend said.
A burnt Playmobil figure yesterday lay outside the house next to a trophy that belonged to Mr Muscat’s late father, along with other burnt items the family threw away.
The open aluminium bedroom windows were distinguished by their black patina and the smell of burnt plastic could be detected from outside.
“We were told we can start cleaning up,” Mr Muscat said, adding that the police and Enemalta officials visited the house in the early hours to take pictures for their official report.
Inside, the room still reeked of burnt silicon and the ceiling, the walls and the chandelier were the same shade of grey as the fire wreaked havoc.
It was not just the Muscat family who were affected. Residents in the San Ġwann t’Għuxa area were in for a nasty surprise when lights started dimming and the electricity supply emitted sounds “like feast fireworks”.
The surge claimed TV sets, fridges, air conditioners, computers, modems and other electrical appliances. Enemalta said the power surge occurred at about 6.20 p.m. on Monday after thieves broke in and cut and damaged the neutral connection on the transformer to the low voltage panel.
This, in turn, caused an immediate increase in voltage going to the residences connected to this substation.
The corporation said when the neutral connection was broken or cut it generally resulted in the phase voltages increasing from the usual 230V (live to neutral) to 400V.
The neighbourhood was out on the streets yesterday, filling in lists of their damaged goods and their costs to be presented to the police.
“My son was on the PC and, suddenly, the electricity started sparking and making a lot of noise,” Rosanna Cesare, holding a list of damaged appliances in her hands, said.
“When we switched it back on, we found that the router and the modem were no longer working.”
Other appliances damaged by the surge included her aquarium, a games console and an LCD TV set.
The issue concerning Mr Muscat and his fellow neighbours is one of compensation. Since many appliances were damaged in the same surge, the fear is the compensation will take too long to arrive.
“I just want to fix my fridge. I can’t stay for three months without using it,” Charles Diacono, another resident, said.
Another resident noted: “You can’t afford a fridge, a washing machine and a television set all at once.”
Questions sent to Enemalta about compensation and substation security were still unanswered at the time of writing.