What happened here
On the morning of Thursday, 5 November 2026, a fire broke out at the 66 kV Randeri sub-station of the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO) in Jhagadia taluka, Bharuch district. Black smoke was seen from far away, four fire brigade teams took part in the fire-fighting and the fire was reported under control by late morning. Supply from the sub-station stopped and Jhagadia GIDC and the villages around it lost power. No report mentions an injury or a death. The cause and the damage are not known; one outlet gives a short circuit or technical fault only as a preliminary guess.
Quick answers
What happened at Jhagadia on 5 November 2026?
A fire broke out at GETCO's 66 kV Randeri sub-station in Jhagadia taluka, Bharuch district. Four fire teams responded and the fire was brought under control. Jhagadia GIDC and nearby villages lost power.
Was anyone hurt or killed?
No report we read mentions an injury or a death. The reports are silent, which is not a confirmation, so we say no casualties were reported.
What caused the fire?
Not known. Gujarati Jagran gives a short circuit or technical fault as a preliminary guess; other reports say the cause is not yet known. Officers and a technical team are to inspect.
Which areas lost power?
Jhagadia GIDC and the surrounding rural areas, according to Gujarati Jagran; other reports say nearby areas. No report gives the number of consumers or units.
When was power restored?
We found no report of the time supply was restored or rerouted.
How long did the fire last?
Not reported. The fire was said to be under control by about 11.40 am and a TV9 Gujarati clip of about 2.15 pm is titled as brought under control.
Who fought the fire?
Four fire brigade teams, one after another. The reports do not name the stations or agencies.
What should I do if a transformer or sub-station catches fire near me?
Stay well away and upwind, keep others back, never use water on live equipment, and call 101 or 112, saying it is an electrical sub-station.
Is there a city safety guide for this area?
Yes. Jhagadia is inside our Bharuch-Ankleshwar guide: https://howtosurvive.in/city-safety/bharuch/
What happened on 5 November 2026
On the morning of Thursday, 5 November 2026, a fire broke out at the 66 kV Randeri sub-station of the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO) in Jhagadia taluka, Bharuch district, Gujarat. Black smoke was seen from far away and the supply to Jhagadia GIDC and the villages around it went off. Four fire brigade teams reached the site and the fire was reported to be under control by late morning. None of the reports we read mentions an injury or a death.
The first news-channel clips went online at about 10.20 am, and Gujarati news sites carried the story from about 11.30 am. This is a case of an essential service, the electricity that feeds a large industrial estate and nearby villages, going down because of a fire at a single node.
The response
- Fire brigade: four fire teams, one after another, took part in the fire-fighting (Connect Gujarat, Divya Bhaskar, AIR News Gujarati, Gujarati Jagran). Gujarati Jagran adds that water was sprayed to stop the fire spreading. The reports do not name which fire stations or agencies sent the teams.
- Control: the fire was brought under control; Connect Gujarat’s report of about 11.40 am says so, and a TV9 Gujarati clip of about 2.15 pm is titled as the blaze being brought under control.
- Precautions around the site: AIR News says precautionary steps were taken in the nearby area (the report does not say what they were).
- Power supply: supply from the sub-station stopped and nearby areas lost power (all four text reports). Gujarati Jagran says Jhagadia GIDC and the surrounding rural areas were in complete darkness.
- Officials: Gujarati Jagran says the electricity company’s officers and a technical team will inspect once the fire is out. We did not find a statement from GETCO or the distribution company.
What we know about the cause and the damage
Nothing is confirmed. Connect Gujarat and Divya Bhaskar say the cause and the extent of damage are not yet known. Gujarati Jagran says a short circuit or some other technical fault is the preliminary guess and that the loss will be known officially after an inspection. We treat this as a guess, not a finding.
Where the reports differ, and what we do not know
- Time: no report gives the minute the fire began. The earliest news-channel upload we found is about 10.20 am on 5 November, and the story went up on text sites from about 11.30 am. The black smoke in the clips is in daylight.
- Spelling: the station is spelled Randeri in most reports and Randheri in some; Jhagadia is also written Jhagadiya and Zaghadia. We use Randeri.
- Not reported: which equipment burnt (transformer, switchyard, control room or cables), how many consumers or industrial units lost power, how long the outage lasted, when supply was restored or rerouted, the cause, the size of the loss, any injury or death, and any statement by GETCO or the electricity distribution company.
- Casualties: none of the reports mentions an injury. That is not a confirmation that nobody was hurt; the reports simply do not say, so the title says “No Casualties Reported”.
What this case teaches
A sub-station is a single point on which many users depend. When it burns, the loss is not only the equipment: lifts stop, pumps and water supply stop, factory process cooling and ventilation stop, and phone and internet towers on the same feeder can go quiet. Jhagadia GIDC is a large industrial estate with chemical and process units, so a long outage there matters for the safe shutdown of plants as much as for production.
The points worth asking after any sub-station fire are about design and routine: whether oil-filled transformers had fire barriers, oil-collection pits and automatic detection and suppression; whether there is a second feeder or a back-up arrangement for critical load; whether fire-fighting water is available at the yard; and how quickly the operator can tell the nearby industry and villages what has happened. The reports on this fire do not answer any of these, so we do not claim any of them failed.
A sub-station fire also shows why industrial units need their own plan for a sudden loss of grid power: a safe shutdown procedure, emergency lighting that works, back-up power for fire pumps and alarms, and a person who knows how to isolate and restart. For homes and shops, the same event is a reminder to keep a torch, a charged power bank and the emergency numbers handy, and never to run a generator indoors (see our power-cut carbon monoxide guide).
What residents, industry and shopkeepers can do
- Near a burning sub-station: stay well away and upwind, keep children and animals back, do not go to take photographs, and never throw water on live electrical equipment. Call 101 for the fire brigade or 112, and tell the operator it is an electrical sub-station.
- During the outage: switch off heavy appliances so they do not surge when power returns, keep a torch ready, avoid candles, and keep the fridge shut. Check on elderly neighbours and anyone on home oxygen or powered medical equipment.
- Industrial units: have a written plan for a grid failure: safe shutdown steps, working emergency lights, a tested back-up for fire pumps and alarms, and a named person to isolate and restart. Do not restart plant until the supplier confirms that supply is stable.
- Generators: run them outdoors, away from windows and doors; never indoors or in a closed shed. See Generators, geysers and angithis: carbon monoxide safety for power cuts in India.
- Know the numbers: Emergency numbers in India and How to call 112, 101 or 108 explain which number to call and what to say.
For wider reading on fires in Gujarat’s industrial estates, see Fire-prone industrial estates in Gujarat: GIDC risks for workers and neighbours, and for how electrical faults turn into fires, Can a short circuit cause a fire?.
Jhagadia is inside our Bharuch-Ankleshwar city safety guide, which lists the emergency numbers, fire stations and hospitals for the area.
- Fire breaks out at the 66 kV Randeri sub-station; black smoke is seen from a distance; the supply goes off
- Four fire brigade teams reach the site one after another and begin spraying water
- News-channel clips of the fire are uploaded (TV9 Gujarati, Zee 24 Kalak)
- Divya Bhaskar and Connect Gujarat publish; Connect Gujarat says the fire is brought under control
- A TV9 Gujarati clip is titled as the blaze being brought under control; AIR News Gujarati bulletin posted at 2.24 pm
- Gujarati Jagran: cause unknown; officers and a technical team to inspect after the fire; no restoration time given
Why consequences escalated
- A fire broke out at the 66 kV Randeri sub-station of GETCO in Jhagadia taluka, Bharuch, on the morning of 5 November 2026.
- Four fire teams took part in the fire-fighting and the fire was brought under control by late morning.
- Supply from the sub-station stopped and Jhagadia GIDC and nearby villages lost power.
- No report mentions an injury or a death; no report says what equipment burnt, how long the outage lasted or what caused the fire.
- No GETCO or distribution-company statement was found in the reports we read.
Failures and risk multipliers
- No official finding exists. What the reports raise as questions:
- The cause is unknown; one outlet mentions a short circuit or technical fault only as a preliminary guess.
- No report says whether the yard had automatic fire detection, fire barriers or oil-collection arrangements, or whether supply could be rerouted.
- No report says how long the industrial estate and villages were without power, or what the units did during the outage.
- These are questions, not findings of fault.
Actions that reduce risk
- Near a sub-station fire: keep well away and upwind, never use water on live equipment yourself, call 101 or 112 and say it is an electrical sub-station.
- During a long outage: switch off heavy appliances, keep a torch ready, avoid candles, check on elderly neighbours and people on powered medical equipment.
- Industrial units: keep a written grid-failure plan with safe shutdown steps, working emergency lights, back-up for fire pumps and alarms, and a named person to isolate and restart.
- Run generators only outdoors, away from windows and doors.
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