Vegetation fire burns nearly 60 acres on a solar farm near Jamestown

What happened

On Sunday 27 August 2023, a fire was reported at 3:19 p.m. near the junction of O'Byrnes Ferry Road and George Reed Rock Plant Road, outside Jamestown. Reporting said it burned on a solar panel farm, in a mix of cured grasses and oak woodland, and scorched 59.8 acres. One outbuilding was damaged. It was not clear whether solar panels or other property on the farm were damaged. Forward progress was stopped by 4:15 p.m. and containment was declared at 9:11 p.m.

State and local crews used aircraft, engines, hand crews, bulldozers and water trucks. No injuries were reported. Cal Fire had not reported the cause. A fire in May 2021 burned on or near the same solar panel farm.

Contributing factors

The cause was still under investigation and had not been reported. Afternoon temperatures were in the 90s, with southeast winds of 8 to 12 mph.

Lessons learned

1. A vegetation fire on a solar farm can spread quickly in hot, windy conditions even when the cause is not yet known.
2. Early official accounts may not say whether panels or other plant equipment were damaged, so that point should be checked before it is treated as established.
3. A later fire in the same area is a reason to review site vegetation and previous investigation findings once they are released.

More lessons on spacing, layout and fire spread, maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

• Cause of the fire
• Whether solar panels or inverters were damaged
• Downtime or lost output

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

Source

uniondemocrat.com