Firefighters respond to wind turbine fire south of Menlo

MidAmerican Energy and area fire departments responded to multiple calls of a wind turbine on fire south of Menlo just before noon Tuesday, Oct. 17.

According to Geoff Greenwood, Communications Director for MidAmerican Energy, the fire was out as of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, however the Stuart and Menlo fire departments remained onsite to monitor the tower. The tower is part of the Arbor Hill Wind Farm.

“Fortunately, there were no injuries, and the farm field where the turbine is located has been harvested,” Greenwood said in an email. “Safety is our highest priority. We are working with the fire department and will work with the turbine manufacturer, Vestas-American Wind Technology, to determine what occured.”

Greenwood went on to say that wind energy was introduced to Iowa by MidAmerican almost 20 years ago and there are 3,400 wind turbines at 37 wind farms in 33 counties around Iowa.

“An incident such as this is an extremely rare occurence. We are doing everything we can, along with the manufacturer, to ensure our wind turbines are operating safely to provide our customers with affordable and reliable clean energy,” Greenwood said. “We thank the first responders for their efforts to keep the area safe and secure.”

Another wind turbine was reported to have had a more minor, yet similar, issue late last week in the 2900 block of Jordan Avenue, however Greenwood wasn’t aware of that incident or what happened.