Fire damages Cabrillo substation in Irvine, cutting power to thousands

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.

The cause of the fire was still under investigation at the time of reporting, and no further contributing factors were disclosed.

1. Rapid de-energisation of substation equipment can limit fire spread and reduce risk to responding fire crews.
2. Sequencing environmental clean-up, damage assessment, construction, maintenance and testing work supports a safe and orderly restoration after an equipment fire.
3. Mobilising crews from other districts can shorten repair timelines at damaged critical infrastructure.
4. Temporary fixes used to restore supply quickly should be followed by systematic full repair work to avoid repeat failures.

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