Wind turbine reported on fire when struck by lightning near Muirkirk

What happened

On a Thursday evening, a wind turbine near Muirkirk Line in Muirkirk was reported on fire. A local news video was described as showing the turbine already burning when lightning struck it, with thunder audible, thick black smoke, and burning pieces falling. The report said the fire followed a lightning strike, but the sequence is not clear from that account alone. Hydro One reported a small outage nearby affecting fewer than 20 customers. It did not state that the turbine fire caused the outage. Chatham-Kent Fire and Rescue attended 20275 Duart Road, secured the area, and reported no injuries. The extent of damage to the turbine was not reported.

Contributing factors

A lightning strike was reported in connection with the fire. Whether lightning started the fire, or struck a turbine that was already burning, was not established.

Lessons learned

1. After a turbine fire in a thunderstorm, treat the ignition sequence as unconfirmed until the operator and fire service reports are available.
2. Falling burning debris is a reason to keep people clear of the turbine until the site is secured.
3. A nearby outage should not be assumed to have been caused by the turbine fire unless the network operator says so.

Source

cknewstoday.ca