Fire at 33 kV substation in Curti, Goa, India, blamed on short circuit

What happened

On the afternoon of 2 October 2025 a major fire broke out at the 33 kV high-tension electricity substation at Deepnagar, Curti, in Ponda, Goa, India. Goa's power minister said a short circuit started the blaze, which spread quickly through the substation's equipment. Thick black smoke was visible from several kilometres away, and residents in surrounding areas were alarmed. Large parts of Curti and nearby localities lost electricity for several hours.

Local authorities and power department teams worked urgently to restore supply, which was brought back after repair and safety checks. The minister said immediate steps had been taken to contain the incident and stabilise the grid. Further technical inspections were expected to assess the extent of the damage at the substation. No injuries were reported.

Contributing factors

The minister attributed the fire to a short circuit that spread through the substation equipment. No other contributing factors were reported. The cause is provisional pending technical inspection.

Lessons learned

1. Electrical faults in high-voltage substations can escalate quickly, so fire detection and automatic isolation should be tested regularly.
2. Restoration plans should include load transfer and switching procedures so that outages are limited in duration and area.
3. Post-incident technical inspections should assess equipment damage thoroughly before full re-energisation to reduce the risk of repeat failures.

More lessons on detection and monitoring, worker safety and safe systems of work, maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, from every incident on the register.

Source

switchgear-magazine.com