Solar panels catch fire on a retail or public building roof in South Petherton

What happened

On 28 February 2025, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service received several calls reporting solar panels on fire on the roof of a retail or public building in South Petherton. Three appliances were mobilised with an aerial ladder platform and a supporting fire officer. On arrival, crews requested two further appliances and a water carrier. Crews used the aerial ladder platform, two breathing apparatus sets, one hose reel jet and one light portable pump. The fire was extinguished and the incident was scaled back to one appliance to monitor hotspots, with revisits scheduled for later that evening. The cause was not reported.

Contributing factors

The fire service report does not state a cause or a contributing factor.

Lessons learned

1. Rooftop solar fires on occupied buildings can need an aerial platform and extra crews, so access and water plans should be agreed before an incident.
2. After the fire is out, hotspot monitoring and scheduled revisits reduce the risk of reignition.
3. Incident logs should record which part of the array was involved so operators can check similar roofs.

More lessons on detection and monitoring, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

• Cause of the fire
• Solar panel model and age
• Cost of the damage

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

Source

dsfire.gov.uk