Substation fire in Graham, Washington, part of Christmas Day attacks
Dec 2022Published 31 Oct 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
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What happened
On Christmas Day 2022 a fire broke out late in the evening at a Puget Sound Energy substation in Graham, Washington. Authorities were notified at 7.21 pm. The fire was the fourth attack on a power facility that day in south Pierce County. Earlier the same day another Puget Sound Energy substation was vandalised, and two Tacoma Public Utilities facilities were also hit. Equipment was damaged at each site. Together the incidents left more than 14,000 customers without power, including in Graham and Elk Plain.
County firefighters and utility workers responded and the fire was extinguished. In each incident there was a forced entry into a fenced area. The Pierce County Sheriff's Department investigated the incidents as burglaries, although nothing was reported taken. Puget Sound Energy restored power to all affected customers by mid-afternoon on 26 December.
Contributing factors
Federal law enforcement had warned earlier in December of a possible threat to the local electric grid, according to Tacoma Public Utilities. The Sheriff's Department said the fire was started intentionally, but later said that while vandalism caused the fire it was unclear whether the blaze was purposeful. Investigators had not determined whether the attacks were a coordinated effort to disrupt power, the work of a thief, or something else. It was also unclear whether the incidents were linked to similar events in Washington and Oregon.
Lessons learned
- Substations need strong perimeter security, intrusion detection and regular patrols, particularly where a threat warning has been issued.
- Operators should treat law enforcement threat advisories as a trigger for heightened monitoring and should share alerts quickly with neighbouring utilities and agencies.
- Feeder switching and load transfer capability can limit how many customers lose power when one site is attacked, so restoration plans should be tested in advance.
More lessons on theft, arson and site security, detection and monitoring, outages, backup supply and restoration, from every incident on the register.
Source
Other entries that name Christmas
Published 2026-10-31. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
