Wind turbine destroyed by fire, later demolished in Portland, Texas

A wind turbine in Portland, Texas caught fire on 23 February 2020. Local officials said at the time that they had no choice but to let the fire burn itself out. No injuries were reported and officials were unsure how the fire started. The turbine was left damaged and, in October 2020, demolition crews brought it down using controlled blasts. A video shared by the local county sheriff showed that the first blast was unsuccessful and that a second blast brought the structure down. The turbine's operator, manufacturer and capacity were not reported.

The cause of the fire was not determined by officials at the time of reporting.

1. Wind turbine fires at height are often left to burn out because firefighting intervention at elevation is difficult and hazardous.
2. Fire damage to a turbine may lead to full structural demolition rather than repair, extending downtime and cost.
3. Root cause investigations for turbine fires should be pursued and published where possible so that other operators can identify similar ignition risks.

News report via Google News