Fire in switch room at Stafford substation cuts power to 19,000 homes
EIR-0786A fire broke out in the switch room of an electricity substation on Kamienna Close in Stafford, England. Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service was called at approximately 13:15 BST following reports of an explosion and smoke in the area. On arrival, firefighters found a fire in the switch room of the substation. The incident caused approximately 19,000 homes to lose power. National Grid stated that engineers rerouted electricity supplies, and all but one affected property had power restored by 16:30 the same day. Teams from Western Power Distribution attended the site and were to assess the extent of the damage once it was safe to enter. No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.
- Rapid rerouting of electricity supply following a substation fault can significantly reduce the duration of customer outages.
- Coordination between fire services and network operators is essential for safe access and damage assessment following equipment fires.
- Switch room fires can affect large numbers of customers even when the incident itself is contained quickly, highlighting the value of resilient network design with redundancy.
Published 2026-09-15. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.