Fire damages transformer substation in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg

On Friday night, a fire at a transformer substation left parts of Eldorado Park in Johannesburg without power. City Power said preliminary information suggested the substation had been entered by people living there who may have lit a fire for warmth, and that the fire may then have spread to the equipment. Officials were also investigating whether attempted theft of infrastructure could have started the fire. The utility said the fire completely damaged the transformer substation, which was being demolished, and that work had started to install a 500 kVA mini-substation. The outage affected Eldorado Park Extension 7 and surrounding streets, including Wisconsin, Vermont, Ohio, Texas and Nebraska. Technicians were on site, and restoration was expected late on Saturday. Heavy rain was reported across Johannesburg that day; the source does not link it to the fire.

City Power said both possibilities remained under investigation: an informal fire after unauthorised entry, or attempted theft of infrastructure. No confirmed cause was reported.

1. Sites exposed to unauthorised entry need barriers and checks that stop people occupying electrical equipment.
2. Where equipment theft is a local risk, operators should treat signs of intrusion as a fire and outage hazard.
3. A prepared temporary replacement can limit how long customers stay off supply after a substation is destroyed.

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