July 20, 2017
Kansas

Wind turbine catches fire in Lincoln County

KWCH | Jul 19, 2017 | www.kwch.com

Firefighters in Lincoln County responded to an interesting call on Tuesday. A wind turbine was on fire just north of I-70.

With the wind turbine standing over 400 feet tall, crews said the fire was impossible to reach.

Sylvan Grove Fire Chief Marc Lovin says there isn’t anything his firefighters can do but let the turbine burn.

“For safety reasons, we don’t approach the tower normally because there are obviously charges from high voltage electrical current,” said Lovin.

Lovin says the fire department responds to the calls to put out any grass fires that might be sparked by the initial fire.

He says this is only the second wind turbine to catch fire since the wind farm was built. A cause was not given.

The wind turbine lost one blade in the fire. It will cost almost a million dollars to repair.