Explosion and fire at Celesc substation cut power to almost 70,000 homes

What happened

In the early hours of 4 November 2026, an explosion and large fire occurred at a Celesc substation in the Aririú district of Palhoça, in the Greater Florianópolis area of Santa Catarina state, Brazil. The blast and fire cut supply to almost 70,000 consumer units at the peak of the event. Residents reported a bright, coloured flash in the sky, visible from a long distance, followed by flames on the high-voltage network.

Celesc carried out switching operations to restore supply and reconnected more than 40,000 addresses, while about 29,000 properties still had no power on the morning of 4 November. The fire service was called to control the fire and secure the risk perimeter. No injuries were reported. Preliminary checks suggested an iron bar may have been thrown at the high-voltage structure, causing a major short circuit followed by the explosion and fire, but this was not confirmed. Celesc and the police were to examine the site.

Contributing factors

Preliminary and unconfirmed suspicion that an external act of vandalism, an iron bar thrown at the high-voltage structure, caused a short circuit. Celesc and the police were to examine the site to confirm whether external interference was the primary cause.

Lessons learned

1. Operators of high-voltage substations should review perimeter security, fencing and surveillance against deliberate interference from outside the site.
2. Utilities should plan switching and load transfer so that supply to unaffected areas can be restored quickly after a major fault.
3. Fire services and utilities should agree isolation perimeters and access arrangements for substation fires involving high-voltage equipment.

More lessons on theft, arson and site security, outages, backup supply and restoration, fire suppression and firefighting, from every incident on the register.

Source

ndmais.com.br