Thousands Impacted By MoCo Power Outage After Transformer Fire

First responders with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service said the power outage occurred after a transformer fire broke out.

By Gaby Arancibia, Patch Staff

Sep 28, 2026 10:13 AM EDT

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue reported that a transformer fire was the cause of widespread power outages on Sunday. (Gaby Arancibia/Patch)

GERMANTOWN, MD — Thousands of residents were left without power for several hours over the weekend after a transformer fire broke out in Germantown.

Pete Piringer, of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, said the transformer fire occurred in the Milestone community around 1:30 p.m., near Observation Drive and Ridge Road.

It wasn't until about 4 p.m. that power began to return to some parts of Germantown, although a few traffic signals continued to see outages throughout much of the day.

Work at the site remained active Sunday until at least 10:30 p.m.

Officials have not released additional details regarding the transformer fire.

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