1st LD-Writethru: TEPCO substation fire causes power outages in Tokyo, train services suspended

More than 350,000 homes in Tokyo were left without power Wednesday afternoon as firefighters and police rushed to put out a fire at one of Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (TEPCO) facilities just outside Tokyo, local media said Wednesday.

Fire fighters were seen in dramatic scenes battling a blaze in Saitama Prefecture, which had caused huge plumes of thick black smoke to dominate an otherwise clear sky on Wednesday afternoon.

According to Japan's public broadcaster NHK quoting a local official from the city of Niiza, close to the burning substation, the flames were first detected from power lines near Tokyo, with buildings in the capital also affected and at least two subway lines having their operations suspended, NHK confirmed.

Police and firefighters are probing the cause of the incident at the facility, and along with the investigators, TEPCO believes there is a possibility that the substation's power transmission line may have been damaged during the fire and resulted in the widespread blackout across the Tokyo Metropolitan area.

The blackout has left some 350,000 houses without electricity, TEPCO said, with half of those affected being in Tokyo's Nerima ward, the utility said.

TEPCO, the police and the firefighters, as quoted by local media, said that investigations are continuing, but that they had not received reports of injury or damage as a result of the large scale power outage. Endit