March 13, 2021
Scotland

Loch Fyne windfarm fire sparks emergency response

Colin Cameron | Argyllshire Advertiser | 12/03/21 | www.argyllshireadvertiser.co.uk

An investigation is underway after firefighters were called out ‘as a precaution’ to a fire at an Argyll windfarm.

The fire happened at the base of one of the 197-foot-high wind turbine towers at Clachan Flats windfarm on the morning of Thursday March 11.

Three fire crews were called out – from Inveraray, Lochgoilhead and Garelochhead – to the site high on the hills above Clachan, Cairndow at the head of Loch Fyne.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: ‘We were alerted at 9.39am on Thursday March 11 to reports of a fire at a windfarm near Inveraray.

‘Operations Control mobilised three appliances to the scene where firefighters extinguished a small fire in a wind turbine.

‘Crews left after ensuring the area was made safe. There were no reported casualties.’

A spokesperson for the windfarm operator, Scottish Power Renewables, confirmed that a ‘small contained fire occurred within the base level of one of the wind turbine generators at Clachan Flats windfarm’.

They added: ‘The fire was managed in line with our robust on-site health and safety procedures and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was contacted as a precaution. A full technical investigation is now underway to establish the cause of the fire.’

The nine-turbine Clachan Flats windfarm, with a maximum generation capacity of 15 megawatts, was commissioned in 2009 and officially opened in July 2010.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2021/03/13/loch-fyne-windfarm-fire-sparks-emergency-response/