Kishanganj Transformer Repair Workshop Fire, Bihar: Oil Drums and Transformers Blast for About Two Hours 100 Metres From a Petrol Pump, No Injuries Reported, Cause Not Established

What happened

The Kishanganj transformer workshop fire of Wednesday 11 November 2026 burned oil-filled transformers and drums of transformer oil at the electricity department’s transformer repair workshop (TRW) in Paschim Pali, a crowded part of Kishanganj town in north-east Bihar. Reports say there were more than 10 blasts, flames rose to about 50 feet, and a petrol pump stood about 100 metres away. Amar Ujala and ETV Bharat describe an area of more than 50,000 residents. The administration moved people back and stopped traffic on the road. Fire engines took time to arrive and their water ran short. The fire was brought under control in about 3.5 hours. No injuries were reported by any page we opened.

The headlines differ from the story inside them. Amar Ujala’s headline calls the site a power substation and Dainik Jagran calls it a power house, but the Amar Ujala article and the Jagran article both describe a transformer repair workshop, and Jagran places it inside the power house premises. We use the workshop description. The count of transformers is also not settled: reports speak of about two dozen, about 50 and more than 50. The cause is not established. The department’s executive engineer gave a preliminary account that a bird on a wire caused a spark, which fell on dry grass and then caught the oil drums, while a local employee quoted by ETV Bharat guessed at a spark from a 33,000 volt wire onto spilled transformer oil. Both are guesses made during the fire, not findings.

The workshop held about 50 drums of transformer oil of roughly 210 litres each, which the executive engineer put at about 10,500 litres, according to Urban Acres, news4nation and NPG News. ETV Bharat quotes the same engineer speaking of hundreds of drums, and says more than 50 were pulled out. A sub-divisional officer told ETV Bharat that a JCB was used to pull down one side wall so that 50 oil-filled drums could be taken out, which he said averted a bigger accident. Fire extinguishers were present in the workshop but the flames were too fierce for anyone to go in, ETV Bharat reports. Supply to the town was cut as a precaution at about 12.15 pm and was restored by 5 pm after a safety check, according to news4nation. Our guide on short circuits and fire explains why electrical faults are a common starting point, though the cause here is not established, and the Hapur furniture-shop fire near a CNG station is another fire next to a fuel point.

What the reports say

• When: Wednesday 11 November 2026. No page we opened gives the start time; a precautionary power cut began at about 12.15 pm (news4nation) and Amar Ujala’s first report was updated at 12.55 pm
• Where: Electricity department transformer repair workshop (TRW) at Paschim Pali, Kishanganj town, Kishanganj district, Bihar; news4nation gives Paschimpali College Road
• What burned: Transformers, drums of transformer oil, repair material and equipment; the count of transformers is reported as about two dozen, about 50 or more than 50
• Blasts: More than 10 (Amar Ujala, ETV Bharat); 10 to 12 over about two hours, intermittent (Urban Acres, NPG News)
• Flames: About 50 feet (ETV Bharat, Urban Acres, NPG News); 50 to 100 feet (news4nation)
• Oil on site: About 50 drums of about 210 litres each, an estimated 10,500 litres, per the executive engineer (Urban Acres, NPG News, news4nation)
• Nearby: A petrol pump about 100 metres away (Amar Ujala, ETV Bharat, Urban Acres, NPG News); dense housing with more than 50,000 residents (Amar Ujala, ETV Bharat)
• Fire engines: First engine about half an hour after the alert, according to locals (Amar Ujala, news4nation); Jagran says one engine reached the spot at once; water ran short and engines had to refill (Jagran, Urban Acres, NPG News); the total number of engines is not given
• Time to control: About 3.5 hours (NPG News, Urban Acres; news4nation attributes it to the sub-divisional magistrate)
• Injured or dead: None reported (ETV Bharat, Urban Acres); no page we opened reports any casualty
• Cause: Not established. Preliminary account of the department: a bird on a wire, a spark and dry grass; a local employee and Jagran mention a spark or short circuit
• Loss: About Rs 1 crore, a preliminary department estimate (news4nation); other reports say the assessment will follow once the site cools

Where reports differ and what we do not know

• Substation or workshop: Amar Ujala’s headline says power substation and other headlines say power house; the bodies of Amar Ujala and Jagran, and ETV Bharat, describe a transformer repair workshop, and Jagran places it inside the power house premises. We call it the transformer repair workshop and do not describe it as a substation
• Number of transformers: About two dozen (Prabhat Khabar headline and report as seen in search results; the page could not be opened), about 50 (eyewitnesses via Urban Acres; NPG News says about 50 transformers and 50 drums were inside), more than 50 (news4nation). Amar Ujala and Jagran say the count is not yet known. We say dozens
• Number of oil drums: About 50 drums, 10,500 litres (NPG News, Urban Acres, news4nation); hundreds of drums (the engineer as quoted by ETV Bharat). More than 50 were taken out, ETV Bharat reports
• Fire engine timing: Jagran says an engine arrived on getting the information and ran out of water; locals tell Amar Ujala and news4nation that the first engine came about half an hour after the call. The two accounts cannot both describe the same engine, and no page gives the call time or the arrival time
• Height and reach of flames: About 50 feet in three reports and 50 to 100 feet in another. Amar Ujala’s headline says flames were seen up to 50 km away, which no other page repeats and which we do not use
• Cause: A bird on the wire (executive engineer, as quoted by Amar Ujala, Urban Acres, NPG News and news4nation); a spark from a 33,000 volt wire onto transformer oil (a local employee, ETV Bharat); a short circuit or technical fault (Jagran and Urban Acres, as suspicions). Nobody has published an inspection finding
• Loss: About Rs 1 crore, preliminary (news4nation) against lakhs of rupees (Prabhat Khabar headline as seen in search results). Urban Acres and Jagran say the loss is not yet assessed
• Not known: The start time, the number of fire engines, how many transformers were burnt, whether a formal inquiry has been ordered, whether a fire clearance or hydrant supply existed at the workshop, and the final loss

What this case teaches

This case is in our set of no-casualty fires because of what could have happened. Oil drums were burning and bursting about 100 metres from a petrol pump, in a part of the town where a very large number of people live, and the water carried by the first engines was not enough. Nobody was reported hurt. The administration cleared people and closed the road, and a sub-divisional officer says pulling 50 oil drums out with a JCB averted a bigger accident; that is his account, and we cannot test it, because no inspection report has been published.

What the reports do show is how little time such a fire gives. Transformer oil burns hot and the drums burst, so blasts continued for about two hours. Engines had to refill again and again, which suggests that water close to the site mattered; we cannot say whether the workshop had a hydrant or a tank, because no page says. For readers who live near an electricity yard, workshop or petrol pump, the useful points are to keep clear when blasts start, to call 101 or 112 at once and say there is oil and a fuel station nearby, and to let the area be cleared and the road closed. Wires close to a house, balcony or terrace and oil depot fires are covered in our guides.

We read the reports on 12 November 2026. The department’s bird-and-grass account is a preliminary statement from an officer at the scene; if an inspection report or an official finding is published, we will update this page.