Bermuda will attempt to get back to business this morning following a day of chaos and confusion prompted by a devastating electrical fire at Belco.

At Presstime last night, Government was reporting that 90 percent of all areas outside of Hamilton were receiving power while urging everybody to help alleviate pressure from the already stressed system by making concerted efforts to conserve electricity.

With the majority of residents sleeping in their beds yesterday, scores of firefighters battled courageously in unimaginable heat to quell 60-foot flames which exploded into life just after 3 a.m ? sending menacing plumes of thick, black smoke spiralling out across the night sky.

With anxiety levels going through the stratosphere because of the fire?s proximity to the power plant?s diesel engines and warehouse, the flames were finally contained and fully extinguished just after 11 a.m, mercifully bringing to an end the exhausting eight-hour fight.

A ?catastrophic failure? on one of the plant?s five switchboards was the reason behind the blaze according to Belco officials yesterday afternoon ? although they added that a more exact explanation would not be forthcoming until a full investigation had been carried out.

Human error of any sort was unequivocally ruled out, however, by Belco president Garry Madeiros and chief operations officer Vince Ingham ? who both insisted that no matter how sophisticated, all electrical systems are bound to malfunction at some stage.

They also expressed confidence in Belco?s capacity to service the entire Island?s energy needs even with a compromised infrastructure ? although Mr. Madeiros in particular was quick to warn the public that there could be no guarantees.

However, Mr. Ingham conceded it would take the best part of three days until the plant would be running efficiently once again.

?We will be able to provide a much more thorough report once we have had a chance to really investigate,? he said. ?But in the meantime we have been bringing power back online very slowly in order not to destabilise the system and we are pretty sure that we will have a functioning ? if not necessarily as robust ? system in place in the next 48 to 72 hours.?

Meanwhile, Government Ministers descended on the Cabinet Office for a morning briefing at around nine ? several hours after Premier Alex Scott and Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton had led a meeting of the Emergency Measures Organisation (EMO).

Mr. Scott said during the day that while the blackout had presented ?immense? challenges to the community, he had been inspired by the responsible and forthright nature of the response.

And last night, at the day?s second EMO meeting, the Premier extended his gratitude to all who had worked to bring the situation under control. ?Today has been a long, long day,? he said. ?We owe as a country a debt of appreciation to many people, in particular the firemen who literally put their lives on the line for us. It was a most intense fire. It melted and bent steel beams.

?But we are now in a good place compared to where we were at four o?clock this morning and we have to be patient because as a country, we are now being asked to work through a crisis. The message is very simple: patience, cooperation and conservation.?

In the harsh light of day, the smoke-blackened building which housed the switchboard lay in ruins, with piles of jagged rubble and oily water spread out across the adjacent road. A 20-foot by 20-foot hole had been punched in the building?s side, exposing the mutilated switchboard which continued to smoulder in the oppressive afternoon heat.

With the fire defeated, a number of Belco employees stood and stared blankly at the carnage, as a group of bleary-eyed firefighters lay prostrate on the ground nearby recovering from their danger-ridden night.

The damage itself is so severe that the entire structure will now have to be bulldozed and the switchboard replaced ? a process set to take between 12 and 18 months and cost close to $10 million.

However, Mr. Ingham hinted that in the interim, they would be using a smaller, mobile switchboard purchased from overseas to take up some of the slack.

The Island-wide blackout shut down the vast majority of businesses in Hamilton, while people rushed out in droves to fuel their cars and purchase essential supplies, causing significant road congestion and heated confrontations at gas stations.

Little disruption was reported at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital which has its own generator while the Airport was similarly unaffected.

But while Bermuda?s Government Ministers and emergency services spent most of yesterday buried in work, an even larger number of people flocked gleefully to the beaches, grateful for the unexpected holiday and seeking respite from the energy-sapping humidity. A number of bars, most notably The Beach on Front Street continued to serve drinks throughout the day, as hundreds of thirsty punters spilled out onto the streets in party-mode.

The Island?s major hotels, full to bursting at the height of the tourist season, coped adequately given the circumstances and Government was reporting last night that all were back online.

Unsurprisingly, the planned motorcade through the streets of Hamilton in celebration of Bermuda?s historic qualification for the cricket World Cup in 2007 was cancelled and postponed until further notice.

But as some wryly remarked yesterday, the national holiday many demanded to commemorate the feat had in fact become a reality.