05 Aug Solar panel blaze
Over 1,200 visitors had to be evacuated from a water park in Taiwan after solar panels caught fire during a heatwave that has seen record power consumption as the islanders struggle to keep cool.
The fire in Taipei is thought to have been sparked by soaring temperatures which last week rose to 38.5degrees C – the second highest temperature ever recorded in Taiwan in July – on two successive days.
Daily power usage hit a record 35.821 million kilowatts on one of the days with the Taiwan Power Company saying it was caused by residents reached for their air conditioning.
No one was injured and the fire was put out within half an hour but it left a swathe of the solar panels, which were installed ten years ago blackened and distorted.