A busy high street in Boston, Lincolnshire, was the scene of a dramatic explosion and subsequent fire originating from an underground electrical installation on Thursday, August 20, 2026.
Paving slabs and rubble were sent flying into the air outside a busy car park just moments after a couple had crossed the road, narrowly avoiding the blast.
Emergency services attended the scene, closing the street as they worked to determine the cause of the incident. The fire had extinguished itself by the time firefighters arrived. Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the blaze was a result of a fault in an underground cable.
National Grid Electricity Distribution reported that the fault on their underground network caused a power cut affecting 68 properties in Boston. Power was restored to all customers by 8:59 p.m. on Thursday, nearly nine hours after the initial outage.
"Supplies were isolated while the situation was made safe, and power was restored to all customers by 8.59pm," a spokesperson for National Grid Electricity Distribution stated. "There was a small fire as a result of the underground cable fault. The situation was promptly made safe by Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service and our engineers. We'd like to thank Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service for its swift response to the incident."