October 19, 2018
Massachusetts

Electrical fire at wind turbine

By John P. Muldoon | October 18, 2018 | thelocalne.ws

Wind turbine fire October 2018 (Photo by KelleyJane Kloub)

IPSWICH – Firefighters have successfully put out a fire at one of the two wind turbines on Town Farm Road on Thursday.

The incident was reported at around 1:35 p.m. on October 18. The dispatcher radioed that the fire was called in by an employee.

No one was reported injured in the incident.

The dispatcher said the employee reported a “pretty good electrical fire – smoke is coming from the unit, and he has no fire extinguisher.”

The fire was confined to electrical equipment on the first floor, said Fire Chief Andy Theriault afterwards. “There was no extension,” he added.

Theriault said smoke filled up the tower and eventually vented from the top of the 260-foot structure.

However, eyewitnesses said that smoke was only intermittently visible.

An off-duty fire department shift was called back, while crews handled the blaze. Rowley Fire Department also covered Ipswich from their quarters.

The fire was reported to be knocked down just after 2 p.m.

The Electric Light Department shut off power from the generator. The one that caught fire was not town-owned, said ELD manager Jon Blair. “It’s not ours,” he noted.

The generator was built by D&C Construction in 2012. It generates enough electricity to power 400 homes, according to an old Q&A sheet published by the town.

It has a design life of 20 years, the question sheet said.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/10/19/electrical-fire-at-wind-turbine/