Lightning reported to have sparked fire at Balfour substation, cutting power to thousands
EIR-0975Provisional entry. Confirmed: a fire at the Balfour distribution substation in Mpumalanga after a reported lightning strike, affecting supply to Dipaleseng Municipality and more than 5,000 customers. Not yet known: the extent of transformer damage, the restoration period or any confirmed cause. Next update: 19 September 2026.
A distribution substation in Balfour, Mpumalanga, operated by Eskom and containing three transformers, caught fire after being struck by lightning, which the report says followed an error in the system. Two of the three transformers were shut down for protection but may also have been affected by the fire. Electricity supply to Dipaleseng Municipality and more than 5,000 customers of Eskom was affected. At the time of reporting, technicians had not yet assessed the extent of the damage. Eskom said the restoration period and the value of the damage would depend on whether the second and third transformers were also affected.
A lightning strike is reported to have triggered a system error that led to the fire. No assessment of the damage or confirmed root cause had been published at the time of reporting.
- Substations in lightning-prone regions should have surge and lightning protection that is tested and maintained on a defined schedule.
- Prompt damage assessment protocols help operators give realistic restoration timelines to affected customers.
- Protective shutdown of adjacent transformers does not guarantee they escape fire damage, so recovery planning should assume the loss of more than the unit first affected.
Published 2026-09-17. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.