Wind turbine destroyed by fire, later demolished in Portland, Texas
Feb 2020Published 19 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- Wind turbine in Portland, Texas
- What
- Caught fire on 23 February 2020 and later demolished
- Injuries
- None reported
- Cause
- Not determined
- Outcome
- Demolished with controlled blasts in October 2020
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What happened
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.
Contributing factors
The cause of the fire was not determined by officials at the time of reporting.
Lessons learned
- Wind turbine fires at height are often left to burn out because firefighting at elevation is difficult.
- Fire damage to a turbine may lead to full structural demolition with explosives rather than repair.
- A first controlled blast may fail, so plans for turbine demolition must allow for repeats.
More lessons on fire suppression and firefighting, structural integrity and turbines, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Cause of the fire
- Turbine operator and manufacturer
- Turbine capacity and model
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Source
Other entries that name Portland
Published 2026-09-19. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
