Lightning believed to have caused transformer fire at Kingston substation
July 2018Published 6 Oct 2026
Companies named in this entry: Central Hudson
What happened
A local radio report said lightning was believed to have caused a transformer fire at an electrical substation in Kingston, Ulster County, on the afternoon of Tuesday 17 July 2018. A fast-moving line of thunderstorms with strong winds and lightning had passed through the Hudson Valley. The report said the heaviest storm damage was in Ulster County, where about 5,000 customers remained without service, most of them in the City of Kingston.
It did not say how many of those outages were caused by the substation fire. Utility crews and emergency responders were attending. Central Hudson crews were developing plans to re-route power to restore service to the city, which was expected to take several hours. The substation was not named, and the report did not mention injuries.
Contributing factors
The source describes lightning during the thunderstorm as the believed cause, not a confirmed finding.
Lessons learned
- Substations in thunderstorm-prone areas need working lightning protection and a clear way to confirm whether lightning started a fire.
- Keep switching plans ready so supply can be re-routed if a substation transformer is lost.
- Storm plans should cover a substation fire at the same time as wider weather damage.
Source
Published 2026-10-06. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.