Offshore wind turbine catches fire at North Denes Beach, Lowestoft, Suffolk
Aug 2023Published 29 Oct 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
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What happened
An offshore wind turbine caught fire at North Denes Beach in Lowestoft, Suffolk, on Tuesday 15 August 2023. Smoke could be seen more than 10 miles away. A member of the public walking nearby saw the smoke during the day, noted that no service vessels appeared to be attending, and later saw that the smoke had stopped. RWE, which owns the turbines, confirmed that nobody had been injured. HM Coastguard said the situation was under control and was being monitored.
Lessons learned
- Where an offshore turbine fire is detected remotely, operators should have a documented response that includes notifying the coastguard and confirming the status of the incident to the public.
- Operators should record when a fault is detected, when vessels are dispatched and when the fire is confirmed out, so that public questions can be answered quickly.
- Where visible smoke is reported by the public, operators and authorities should issue a short factual statement early to prevent speculation about spread or casualties.
More lessons on detection and monitoring, spacing, layout and fire spread, from every incident on the register.
Source
Other entries that name Suffolk
Published 2026-10-29. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
