Fire at Substation Causes Power Outages for Thousands

A fire at an electrical substation near left more than 2,500 Dearborn residents without power on Saturday.

According to Captain Robert Cunningham, the department's battalion chief was on his way back from an unrelated call at Oakwood around 4 p.m. when he spotted what appeared to be a fire at a Detroit Edison substation.

Stations 1 and 2 responded and were able to put the fire out relatively quickly. However, the incident caused massive power outages in the area, affecting approximately 2,500 residences and businesses in the area of Oakwood Boulevard, Southfield Freeway, Rotunda Drive and Outer Drive.

"We're not sure of the cause yet," Cunningham said of the fire, "but it appeared to be a transformer that had caught fire."

DTE Energy has estimated that power will be restored late Saturday night, or early Sunday morning.