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Solar PVUnited StatesEIR-1255

Field fire at solar farm north of Carmi contained to vegetation

2025Published 25 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

MinorThermal / fireProvisional
Estimated damageEstimated by the register's adjusterHow? Know the real figure?
Figure hidden: shown to subscribersHigh confidence
out of service for about •• daysShown in the record →Full estimate
Where
solar farm north of Carmi on County Road 850 E 2150 North
Operator
Ameren Missouri
What
field fire limited to vegetation
Response
firefighters on scene for three hours
Cause
not reported

Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Ameren Missouri

What happened

On a Wednesday afternoon in November 2025, firefighters were called to a field fire at a solar farm north of Carmi, at County Road 850 E 2150 North. The fire chief said the fire was limited to vegetation and that no solar panels were damaged. The solar farm is owned by Ameren Missouri, after an earlier report that it was owned by Ameren of Illinois was corrected. Crews were on scene for about three hours. The cause was not reported.

Contributing factors

Not reported.

Lessons learned

  1. A vegetation fire on a solar farm should be recorded separately from damage to the arrays, because panels can remain undamaged.
  2. Check ownership with the operator before relying on a first attribution, which in this case was later corrected.
  3. Where a short local report gives no cause, state that the cause is not known rather than infer one.

More lessons on maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

  • Cause of the vegetation fire
  • Downtime or lost generation
  • Cost of the response

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

wrul.com

Published 2026-09-25. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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Chart to reuse with this story: Solar PV incidents in the United States, by year, free with a credit (PNG).

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