Substation explosion and fire cuts power to 100,000 in San Jose suburb
June 2017Published 15 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- Porvenir de Desamparados substation, south San Jose, Costa Rica
- Operator
- Compania Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CNFL) and ICE
- What
- Explosion and fire cut power to 100,000 for over six hours
- Injuries
- None reported
- Cause
- Failure in protective equipment (preliminary assessment)
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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Compania Nacional de Fuerza y Luz
What happened
An explosion at around 7:00pm on a Wednesday evening at the Porvenir de Desamparados electrical substation on the south side of San Jose, Costa Rica, triggered a fire inside the facility. The event knocked out power to an estimated 100,000 people for more than six hours across Desamparados, Aserri and several San Jose neighbourhoods. The substation is shared by the Compania Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CNFL), which provides connections to homes and businesses, and its parent company ICE, which is responsible for high voltage in the country.
The fire department deployed ten units and 35 firefighters to bring the blaze under control, while around 50 CNFL employees worked on restoration. CNFL restored power to 85% of homes by 1:30am and to 95% by 7:00am the following morning. Nearby homes, electrical lines and one light post were damaged. No injuries or fatalities were reported. Additional police officers were sent into Desamparados during the blackout.
Contributing factors
Preliminary assessment pointed to a failure in protective equipment at the substation, with a fuller analysis said to be due the following day.
Lessons learned
- Protective equipment at shared transmission and distribution substations must undergo regular inspection and testing.
- Fire services and utility crews must mobilise together to limit outage length after a substation fire.
- A substation explosion can damage nearby homes and lines, so damage checks must extend past the site boundary.
More lessons on maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, fire suppression and firefighting, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Final cause of the protective equipment failure
- Model and age of failed equipment
- Total cost of damage and restoration
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Source
Published 2026-09-15. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
