Fire at Hermes Road substation in Saltford, Bath causes mass outage
EIR-0091Provisional entry. Published from first reports and rechecked automatically as more sources appear. No further update is scheduled; the entry stays provisional until new information is published.
A fire broke out at Hermes Road substation, an electricity substation in a residential area of Saltford, Bath, during the morning. Emergency services attended and used high pressure hose reels and covering jets to extinguish the blaze. Nearby residents were evacuated as a precaution and asked to keep windows and doors closed while crews worked. Up to 700 properties lost power as a result of the incident. Firefighters remained on site after the fire was extinguished to cool equipment and check for hotspots. National Grid, which operates and owns the substation, attended to take over management of the site and begin restoring electricity supplies. No injuries were reported and surrounding properties were checked with no damage found. The cause of the fire was believed to be accidental, though this had not been formally confirmed at the time of reporting.
Not reported beyond an initial assessment that the fire was accidental in nature.
- Substation fires can affect large numbers of connected properties even when the incident is contained quickly.
- Precautionary evacuation and advice to keep windows and doors closed helps manage public exposure to smoke during electrical fires.
- Coordination between fire services and network operators is important for safe handover of equipment cooling, hotspot monitoring and restoration of supply.
Published 2026-09-07. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.