Хорошо, что проводка не загорелась и пожар оказался небольшим.

Хорошо, что... is a very common Russian pattern meaning It’s good that... or It’s a good thing that...

So:

• Хорошо, что проводка не загорелась... = It’s good that the wiring didn’t catch fire...

Here что introduces the clause that explains what is good.

This structure is extremely common:

• Хорошо, что ты пришёл. = It’s good that you came.
• Хорошо, что всё закончилось. = It’s good that everything ended.

Проводка usually means electrical wiring, especially the wiring in a building, wall, apartment, house, etc.

It does not usually mean a single wire. For that, Russian often uses:

• провод = a wire, cable
• проводка = wiring as a system

So in this sentence, проводка не загорелась means the electrical wiring did not catch fire.

Because the subject is проводка, and проводка is a feminine singular noun.

In the Russian past tense, verbs agree in gender and number:

• masculine: -л
• feminine: -ла
• neuter: -ло
• plural: -ли

So:

• проводка загорелась = the wiring caught fire

The ending -ась here comes from the feminine past tense form of the reflexive verb загореться.

The verb here is загореться, which means to catch fire, to ignite, or to flare up.

It is normally used in this reflexive form when something starts burning on its own:

• дом загорелся = the house caught fire
• проводка загорелась = the wiring caught fire

This is just how Russian expresses this idea. The -ся here does not mean the same thing as English oneself; it is simply part of the verb.

Because загореться focuses on the beginning of the fire: to catch fire, to start burning.

Compare:

• гореть = to burn, to be burning
• загореться = to catch fire, to start burning

So:

• проводка не загорелась = the wiring did not catch fire
• проводка не горела = the wiring was not burning

The sentence is specifically about the danger that the wiring might have ignited, so загорелась is the natural choice.

Оказаться often means to turn out to be, to prove to be, or to end up being.

So:

• пожар оказался небольшим = the fire turned out to be small = the fire proved to be minor

It adds a sense of result or discovery: the fire was not as bad as it might have been.

Because after оказаться, Russian often uses the predicate noun or adjective in the instrumental case.

So:

• пожар оказался небольшим

Here:

• пожар = nominative subject
• небольшим = instrumental adjective describing what the fire turned out to be

This is a common pattern:

• Он оказался правым. = He turned out to be right.
• Комната оказалась пустой. = The room turned out to be empty.
• Пожар оказался небольшим. = The fire turned out to be small.

A native English speaker often expects a nominative adjective, but Russian commonly uses instrumental after verbs like быть, стать, оказаться in this kind of meaning.

Usually, пожар оказался небольшим is the standard and most natural form here.

Using the instrumental after оказаться is the normal pattern. A nominative adjective would sound unusual or incorrect in standard usage in this sentence.

So for learners, it is best to remember:

• оказаться + instrumental

Because with verbs, не is usually written separately.

So:

• не загорелась = did not catch fire
• не пришёл = did not come
• не знал = did not know

That is the normal rule for Russian verbs.

They match different subjects:

• проводка is feminine singular → загорелась
• пожар is masculine singular → оказался

Russian past tense agrees with the subject in gender and number, which English does not do.

So this sentence is a good example of that:

• проводка не загорелась
• пожар оказался небольшим

И simply means and. It joins two clauses:

1. проводка не загорелась
2. пожар оказался небольшим

So the whole sentence says that two good things happened:

• the wiring did not catch fire
• the fire turned out to be small

Not exactly, though they can overlap.

• маленький = small, little
• небольшой = not big, fairly small, modest, minor

In this sentence, небольшим works very well because a fire is often described in terms of seriousness or scale. So it can suggest minor or not large rather than simply physically small.

That is why пожар оказался небольшим sounds natural.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, although the original version is very natural.

For example, you could also hear:

• Хорошо, что не загорелась проводка и пожар оказался небольшим.

This still means the same thing, but the emphasis shifts slightly.

The original:

• Хорошо, что проводка не загорелась и пожар оказался небольшим.

is neutral and easy to understand, which is why it is a good default version.

It is basically neutral standard Russian.

Nothing in it is especially slangy, bookish, or highly formal. It would sound natural in everyday speech, news-style narration, or general written Russian.

A speaker might say it after describing a dangerous situation, with the sense:

• Luckily, the wiring didn’t catch fire, and the fire turned out to be minor.

So overall, it is a very normal and useful sentence pattern for learners to know.