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Grid infrastructureAustraliaEIR-1068

Fire breaks out at Ausgrid's Mason Park substation in Homebush, Sydney

Sept 2026Published 18 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
Mason Park substation, Homebush, Sydney
Operator
Ausgrid
What
Fire at coil tower
Injuries
None reported
Cause
Not yet known

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

What happened

An early-morning fire broke out at Ausgrid's Mason Park substation in Homebush, Sydney, just after 2.15am. Fire and Rescue NSW initially sent eight fire trucks and 26 firefighters to the Homebush Bay Drive facility, where a coil tower was found well alight. Because of the high-voltage equipment involved, Ausgrid said that in consultation with emergency services the fire was allowed to burn out under controlled conditions. Firefighters' access was restricted because of the critical nature of the facility, and the blaze was contained to a section of the substation.

Ausgrid said there was no impact to customer electricity supply, and NSW Ambulance said no patients were transported to hospital. Fire crews were expected to remain on site throughout the day. Photographs after the fire showed significant damage to part of the substation. Ausgrid said the cause was not yet known and would be investigated once it was safe to access the site.

Contributing factors

The cause of the fire had not been established at the time of reporting. Ausgrid said it would investigate once safe access to the site was possible.

Lessons learned

  1. A coil tower fire at a substation was allowed to burn out under controlled conditions after consultation with emergency services.
  2. Firefighter access was restricted at the high-voltage site to protect responders while equipment remained live.
  3. The fire was contained to one section of the substation with no loss of customer supply.

More lessons on structural integrity and turbines, fire suppression and firefighting, outages, backup supply and restoration, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

  • Cause of the fire
  • Coil tower model and age
  • Cost of the damage
  • Time until full site access

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

Source

news24.com.au

Other entries that name Sydney

Published 2026-09-18. 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 Australia, by year, free with a credit (PNG).

Grid infrastructure incidents in Australia: 20 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.

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