April 25, 2022
England

£1m plus wind turbine ablaze in the Fens

John Elworthy. Published: April 24, 2022. Updated: April 25, 2022. cambstimes.co.uk

A wind turbine towering some 60-80 metres above ground level caught fire on Sunday evening in a remote part of the Fens.

A wind turbine continues to burn after catching light., French Drove, Crowland Sunday 24 April 2022. Picture by Terry Harris.

Fire fighters from Crowland and the Deepings were called to put out the blazing wind turbine in French Drove, Thorney.

The call came in just before 6pm and by the time fire crews arrived it was well alight.

Lincolnshire fire and rescue advised any residents in the area to stay indoors and keep windows closed.

Video of turbine ablaze in the Fens tonight. Scene captured by ⁦@abovebritain⁩ – and copy right of course belongs to him pic.twitter.com/p0ZyaXaIF7

— john elworthy (@johnelworthy) April 24, 2022

A fire service spokesperson said: “We arrived to find a wind turbine well alight, involving the motor and blades.

“No firefighting action was taken.

“The incident was handed over to firefighters from Dogsthorpe, before being left with the wind turbine company.”

The spokesperson added: “The area was re inspected later in the evening and the following morning.

“The cause of the fire was accidental.”

Recent research suggests the chance of a wind turbine catching fire to be 1 in 2,000.

However, the costs of each turbine fire can be high since a replacement is likely to cost well in excess of £1m – and that’s for one of the smaller industrial scale turbines.

Although no reason for the latest fire has been established, industry experts say that wind turbines primarily catch fire due to electrical or mechanical faults.

Industry sources say that while the frequency of fires has remained constant over the years, the financial risk has increased with the size and complexity of turbines.

French Drove has been subject to several successful applications over the years which falls –just – within the planning powers of Peterborough City Council.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2022/04/25/1m-plus-wind-turbine-ablaze-in-the-fens/