Better Plan, Wisconsin

A call to the local fire department went out when this 400 foot tall turbine caught fire on Saturday night. Firefighters could do little besides watch it burn.

From New York State

WIND TURBINE CATCHES ON FIRE; ALTONA FIRE FIGHTERS RESPOND

Via www.wptz.com

January 28, 2012 

ALTONA, N.Y. — Firefighters said a wind turbine caught fire in Altona, N.Y. saturday night.

Clinton County fire officials said people driving by the windfarm called in to report the fire. Altona firefighters responded to the scene.

County fire officials said only one wind turbine was on fire, and nobody was hurt.

Winds were gusting up to 25 MPH in the area.

Investigators said it was too early to determine a cause.

NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: Another story of trouble in the same wind project:

WIND TURBINE COLLAPSES IN ALTONA

Via Press Republican

March 6, 2009

ALTONA — Area residents were startled Friday morning when they heard what sounded like an explosion at Noble Environmental Power wind park here.

The repetitive booming noise lasted a few minutes, as a massive turbine collapsed to the ground off Fisher Way.

Noble officials said the 9:45 a.m. collapse sparked a small fire at the base of the turbine.

Neighbors could see thick, black smoke billowing at the rural wind park as Altona and Ellenburg Depot crews arrived to extinguish the blaze.

No one was injured during the collapse.

The entire Altona wind park was shut down after the accident, but officials said no danger was posed to the public.

After two years of construction, dozens of turbines are scattered across the Northern Tier. There are about 270 turbines between the various projects in Clinton and Franklin counties.

It can take weeks to construct and energize a single turbine, which at full height stands about 392 feet tall.

Friday’s collapse was the first major incident at any of the area wind parks, which are insured.

Noble officials are continuing to investigate and refused Friday to release any additional information or say whether the collapse caused any other damage.

In a news release, Noble Environmental CEO Walt Howard said: “Noble values the safety of its employees and neighbors above all else. Noble has committed its full resources to understanding the cause of this incident.”

Local firefighters referred all comments to Noble.

It was still unclear Friday afternoon what caused the collapse.

NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: The video below is from a wind turbine fire in Scotland less than two months ago. The turbines in this video are the same scale as turbines in Wisconsin.