Solar panel fire damages roof in East Longmeadow

What happened

The East Longmeadow Fire Department responded at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday to a building fire at 80 Denslow Road. On arrival, crews found heavy smoke from the roof at the rear of the building. Multiple solar panels were on fire. Firefighters secured power and extinguished the fire. Departments from Longmeadow, Wilbraham, Somers, Hampden and Shaker Pines assisted. No injuries were reported. Damage was limited to the panels and parts of the roof. The cause was not reported.

Lessons learned

1. Fire services should isolate power to rooftop solar arrays at the earliest opportunity.
2. Mutual aid arrangements can help assemble resources for a rooftop solar fire.
3. Where the cause is not yet reported, operators should not treat panel involvement as proof of how the fire started.

Source

wwlp.com