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Grid infrastructureUnited KingdomEIR-0933

Fire at Northampton substations cuts power to thousands and prompts evacuations

Apr 2021Published 17 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

SignificantElectrical
Estimated damageEstimated by the register's adjusterHow? Know the real figure?
Figure hidden: shown to subscribersLow confidence
supply cut for about •• daysShown in the record →Full estimate
From the recordRoot cause hiddenFailed part hidden
Where
two electricity substations on Semilong Road in Northampton, England
Operator
Western Power Distribution
What
fire broke out at around 21:15 BST
Injuries
None reported
Cause
electrical accident

Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Western Power Distribution

What happened

A fire broke out at around 21:15 BST at two electricity substations on Semilong Road in Northampton, England, on the Thursday evening. The fire service said the cause was an electrical accident. Twelve people were evacuated from nearby homes. Residents in the area reported a smell of burning plastic and were asked to keep windows and doors closed. Western Power Distribution said power was interrupted to 4,831 homes, with supply restored to 3,500 of these after about two and a half minutes.

A low voltage cable fault left around 339 homes still without power at breakfast time the following morning, with the company working to restore supply. Fire crews from across Northampton attended alongside police and sprayed water on nearby buildings to protect them. No injuries were reported.

Contributing factors

Northamptonshire Fire Service attributed the cause to an electrical accident. Continued outages after the fire were linked to a low voltage cable fault.

Lessons learned

  1. Substation fires can interrupt supply to thousands of homes, so operators should plan rapid network switching to restore most customers within minutes.
  2. Electrical fires at substations produce smoke that affects nearby homes, so operators and fire services must issue clear advice to keep doors and windows closed.
  3. A low voltage cable fault after the initial fire can leave hundreds of homes off supply for many hours, so restoration teams must treat the cable fault as a separate workstream.

More lessons on outages, backup supply and restoration, fire suppression and firefighting, electrical protection and isolation, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

  • Exact equipment that failed
  • Age of the substations
  • Cost of repairs and lost supply
  • Duration until full supply restored

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

BBC News (bbc.co.uk)

Published 2026-09-17. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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Chart to reuse with this story: Grid infrastructure incidents in the United Kingdom, by year, free with a credit (PNG).

Grid infrastructure incidents in the United Kingdom: 117 entries, with a free alert for the next one.

Substation and transformer fires: the counts, the latest entries and a free alert for the next one. Also: power line and cable failures.

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