Transformer fire at Crystal River Complex power plant
2011Published 24 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- Unit 1 of Crystal River Complex, Crystal River
- Operator
- Progress Energy
- What
- Fire on a transformer
- Injuries
- None reported
- Cause
- Under investigation
Get the next one by email
Free alerts on grid infrastructure incidents in the United States, and an email when EIR-1219 is updated. No account needed; unsubscribe in one click.
Confirm your email and every substation and transformer incident on the register arrives at once as a spreadsheet (CSV), free.
Get a free sample brief Three complete verified records and the incidents-per-GW table, by email within a minute.
We will also email you about the register's paid records and plans, at most once a week and three times in all. You can stop these at any time. By signing up you agree to the privacy policy.
Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Progress Energy
What happened
A fire occurred on a transformer at Unit 1 of Progress Energy's Crystal River Complex shortly before 1 p.m. on a Sunday in January 2011. No injuries were reported. Three weeks earlier, on 19 December, fire crews responded to a transformer fire at Crystal River Units 1 and 2, fossil-fuel power plants on Powerline Road in Crystal River. That earlier incident damaged the transformer and surrounding area; the cause was not reported.
After the second fire, the operator said a transformer fire is not typical and said a root-cause analysis would be carried out. The site maintains on-site fire-fighting staff, and a call for county backup was received at 12:41 p.m.
Lessons learned
- Transformer fires at the same site three weeks apart require checks on shared systems and maintenance records after the first event.
- Transformer fires need on-site fire-fighting staff because county backup was called after the alarm.
More lessons on maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, detection and monitoring, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Cause of the January 2011 fire
- Transformer model and age
- Duration of any outage
- Cost of damage and repairs
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Source
Other entries that name Crystal
Published 2026-09-24. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.