Fire damages Cabrillo substation in Irvine, cutting power to thousands
Aug 2019Published 17 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- Cabrillo substation near Jamboree and Michelson in Irvine, California
- Operator
- Southern California Edison
- What
- Fire at substation cut power to 28,000 customers
- Response
- SCE de-energised site quickly; fire department extinguished blaze soon after
- Cause
- Under investigation
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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Southern California Edison
What happened
A fire broke out on a Friday evening at Southern California Edison's substation near Jamboree and Michelson in Irvine, California, referred to in the utility's account as both the Irvine substation and the Cabrillo substation. The fire temporarily cut power to about 28,000 customers in Irvine and part of Newport Beach. SCE equipment de-energised the site quickly and the local fire department extinguished the blaze soon after it started. All power was restored within two days using temporary fixes, after which crews worked around the clock to complete full repairs.
The substation is a complex site with four subtransmission lines of about 66,000 volts each, three power transformers rated between 12,000 and 66,000 volts, and 27 distribution circuits feeding field transformers. Fire damage was described by SCE as significant in portions of the substation. Environmental services teams cleaned soot and fire extinguisher residue and removed damaged equipment before damage assessment, construction, maintenance and test crews carried out repairs, with additional crews drawn from Palm Springs and the Hemet area.
Contributing factors
The cause of the fire was still under investigation at the time of reporting, and no further contributing factors were disclosed.
Lessons learned
- Quick de-energisation by SCE equipment limited fire spread at the 66 kV substation.
- Local fire crews can extinguish substation fires if de-energised early.
- Temporary fixes allow supply restoration in two days before full repairs.
More lessons on spacing, layout and fire spread, fire suppression and firefighting, outages, backup supply and restoration, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Cause of the fire
- Cost of repairs and downtime
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Source
Published 2026-09-17. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
