Category Archives: Power / Energy Facility

Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Sheboygan, WI – Fire at powerplant extinguished with help from sprinkler system

Everyone is okay after a fire at the Edgewater Powerplant in the City of Sheboygan.

According to the Sheboygan County Fire Department, the fire happened Tuesday around 10:57 a.m. When they arrived on scene, they found smoke coming from the powerplant’s dust-collector, but the sprinkler system activated as designed and extinguished most of the fire.

Firefighters were able to go inside the building with a dust collector and put out the rest of the fire and check for hot spots.

The fire is currently under investigation by Edgewater Power Plant personnel.

Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Temple, TX – Fire in nature gas turbine at power plant contained by fire sprinkler system

 Several Temple fire crews responded to a fire in a natural gas turbine at the Panda Power Plant in East Temple at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Temple Fire Department Training Chief Johnathan Christian said. 

Temple Fire Chief Mitch Randles said the fire suppression system at the plant contained the fire but firefighters stayed on scene to make sure it did not spread.

Randles could not say for sure how the fire started but he said no one was injured.

When firefighters got to the plant, two engine crews had to hook up their hoses inside the plant, Christian said. The first crew put out most of the fire, with the help of the plant’s sprinkler system and fire suppression system.

Firefighters still had to work for at least an hour to put out hot spots once the main fire was under control. 

Christian said there are always concerns with fires at power plants, but putting out this one was a smooth operation. 

“Once they had a fire in the system, they shut down the whole turbine and generator,” he said. “Everything in the system was shut down.” 

Five engines, one ladder truck and one command vehicle went to the scene. Christian said the plant has four turbines in total, and the other three are still working.  

The Panda Temple Power Plant  is a clean natural gas-fueled, 758-megawatt combined-cycle facility, according to the company’s website. The plant can supply the power needs of up to 750,000 homes, the website says.

The department will investigate how the fire started. 

Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Ames, IA – Sprinkler system activated at Resource Recovery plant

The Ames Fire Department responded to a fire on Friday morning at the Resource Recovery refuse derived fuel (RDF) bin, located at the corner of East Third Street and East Avenue.

An Ames electric services employee saw smoke and fire coming from the top of the bin and contacted emergency services. Fire crews arrived and extinguished the fire within the bin. Crews remained onsite on Friday to assist with clean up and to monitor hot spots. No injuries were reported.

While the cause of the fire hadn’t been determined Friday, it was reported by electric service employees that the fire was on top of the bin, meaning there was likely a hot material that was transferred to the RDF bin. Materials are transferred to the bin from items dropped off at Resource Recovery System, such as batteries, car tires, hazardous waste and other chemicals.

Paul Sandoval, Ames Deputy Fire Chief, said it does not appear the fire was caused by a mechanical issue.

Sprinkler systems within the bin were activated when the fire started. According to Ames Electrical Services Director Don Kom, the fire department was contacted for additional water and to completely soak the bin. At this time, known damage includes electrical components within the bin, according to Sandoval. Other possible damage is still being investigated.

“We’re now going back in and checking systems to see what’s working and not working. We are making sure that beyond the electrical system, the equipment — especially the augers — are functioning. It will just take us a little while to work through that process,” Kom said in a news release.

Electric services employees were assessing the damage on Friday.

Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Albany, GA – Sprinkler system helps contain fire at Albany Green Energy biomass plant

Albany fire crews responded to a small fire at the Albany Green Energy biomass plant next to Procter and Gamble.

At least four fire trucks responded to the plant around 3 a.m. Thursday.

Batallion Chief Kelly Harcrow said there was a small fire in a hydraulic tank in the building. Crews quickly contained the fire and let it burn itself out, shortly after 7 a. m.  AFD put firefighters in the factory with a hose, ready to make sure everything went ok. 

Harcrow said the fire burned on the surface of the tank.

One fire truck and its crew will stay here for the day to monitor everything.

A spokesperson for the company said, “the fire resulted from an equipment failure.”

The sprinkler system inside the building helped in this emergency.

“It is not actually putting the fire out, but it is keeping it contained into the one area, which is an advantage to us and that allows the product to consume itself and not spread throughout the plant. So it’s doing what it was designed to do,” explained Harcrow.

One ambulance also responded, but Dougherty County EMS Supervisor Phillip Jackson said they have not had to transport anyone.

Harcrow said people were inside at the time but no one was injured and everyone made it out safely.

Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Albany, GA – Early morning fire at biomass energy plant contained by sprinkler system

Albany fire crews responded to a small fire at the Albany Green Energy biomass plant next to Procter and Gamble. At least four fire trucks responded to the plant around 3 a.m. Thursday. Batallion Chief Kelly Harcrow said there was a small fire in a hydraulic tank in the building. Crews quickly contained the fire and let it burn itself out, shortly after 7 a. m. AFD put firefighters in the factory with a hose, ready to make sure everything went ok.

Harcrow said the fire burned on the surface of the tank. One fire truck and its crew will stay here for the day to monitor everything. A spokesperson for the company said, “the fire resulted from an equipment failure.”

The sprinkler system inside the building helped in this emergency. “It is not actually putting the fire out, but it is keeping it contained into the one area, which is an advantage to us and that allows the product to consume itself and not spread throughout the plant. So it’s doing what it was designed to do,” explained Harcrow.

One ambulance also responded, but Dougherty County EMS Supervisor Phillip Jackson said they have not had to transport anyone. Harcrow said people were inside at the time but no one was injured and everyone made it out safely.

Other-Government/Military, Power / Energy Facility

Hibbing, MN – Sprinkler system assists crews in extinguishing conveyor fire at power plant

A fire at the Hibbing Public Utilities Power Plant caused $70,000 in damage on Sunday.  According to Hibbing Fire Marshal Bryan Fagerstrom, the blaze broke out at the top of a 5-story conveyer belt on the bio-mass side of the power plant just after 2:30 p.m. “The conveyor carried wood chips to a loading area to be burned for steam generation,” the press release said. It was equipped with a sprinkler system which assisted in controlling the fire. Crews from Hibbing, Chisholm and Keewatin remained on the scene for several hours to ensure all the hot spots were extinguished. No one was injured. The fire appeared to have been caused by a bearing failure on the conveyor belt.

Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Chesire, OH – Deluge sprinkler system extinguishes transformer fire at power plant

A transformer at General James M. Gavin Power Plant in Cheshire caught fire early Sunday afternoon, causing black smoke to rise that could be seen for miles across the Ohio Valley.

According to Tammy Ridout, manager for media relations and policy communications at AEP, the 1 p.m. Sunday fire was a caused by a failed generator step-up transformer on Gavin Plant Unit 2. This transformer is what handles the generator voltage and increases it to match the transmission line voltage so that power can leave the plant.

The plant is connected to the grid by 765 kilovolt transmission lines — the highest rated voltage in the U.S. The plant currently has about 275 employees. Middleport Fire Chief Jeff Darst said the fire occurred in what is known as Unit 2, where the tranformers are kept behind the plant and can’t be viewed from the road.

Pomeroy, Middleport and Rutland fire departments were called to the scene and no injuries were reported. Ridout said Unit 1 was not affected and remains in operation.

“The local fire departments were a big help in containing the fire,” Ridout said. “We’re still investigating the cause and are working on a recovery plan to restore the unit to operation.”

The Gavin Power Plant is located in Cheshire up the road from the smaller Kyger Creek Power Plant. It is a 2.6-gigawatt coal-fired power station — the largest facility of its kind in Ohio and one of the largest in the nation.  Cheshire resident Robert Roush said he could see the smoke from his home.

Ridout said that Meigs County fire stations, including Middleport, Pomeroy and Rutland fire departments, were called to the scene, but the flames were contained before they arrived. The fire was extinguished by a deluge system, or an activated sprinkler system, she said.

“Unfortunately, when you are dealing with large electrical equipment and there is some type of equipment failure, it can cause a fire,” Ridout said of the previous incident. “We have systems in place such as fire suppression systems, the fire brigade at the plant, training for our employees and relationships with local emergency responders and in this case, those systems worked and we were able to put the fire out safely.”

Other - Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Pasadena, TX – Sprinkler system activates to extinguish industrial chemical fire

(Fire Department Reported – NO MEDIA COVERAGE. Courtesy of City of Pasadena (Texas) Fire Marshal’s Office)

Fire Department Initial Response: On October 07, 2015, The Pasadena Fire Department along with several other agencies responded to 5000 Underwood for a reported industrial fire. Upon their arrival they discovered that a chemical explosion had occurred resulting in a fire. The buildings fire sprinkler system activated and extinguished the fire. The fire sprinkler and alarm system functioned as designed notifying the occupants of the building who evacuated.

This incident shows the importance of an automatic fire sprinkler system and demonstrates that if the building did not have an automatic sprinkler system, the outcome could have been completely different.

Furthermore there is no doubt whatsoever that at the very least the presence of a sprinkler system saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and property loss to the building owners and potentially prevented citizens and firefighters from being injured or killed.’

Automatic fire sprinkler systems have over 100 years of proven performance in protecting life and property. For further information contact: Chief David Brannon, Fire Marshal 713-475-5556.

 

Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Cheshire, OH – Power plant fire knocked down by sprinklers

A small fire was reported around 10 a.m. Thursday at the General James M. Gavin Power Plant in Cheshire.

The power plant is owned American Electric Power.

According to Tammy Ridout, manager of media relations for AEP, the fire started in the generator step-up transformer, which is what takes the generator voltage and increases it to match the transmission line voltage so that power can leave the plant.

The plant is connected to the grid by 765 kilovolt transmission lines — the highest rated voltage in the U.S.

Ridout said that Meigs County fire stations, including Middleport, Pomeroy and Rutland fire departments, were called to the scene, but the flames were contained before they arrived. The fire was extinguished by a deluge system, or an activated sprinkler system, she said.

There were no injuries reported.

Middleport Fire Chief Jeff Darst said the fire occurred in what is known as Unit 2, where the tranformers are kept behind the plant where they can’t be viewed from the road. However, smoke could be seen rising above the plant from passing motorists. Darst said the fire was contained by the Gavin Fire Brigade by the time he and his crew arrived, but that his crew, as well as Pomeroy and Rutland, all helped extinguish the flames.