On Tuesday, a transformer exploded at Hoover Dam, one of the country’s largest hydroelectric power plants, producing black smoke and thick flames that quickly disappeared.
Dam Explosion
No one was injured in the explosion near the base of the dam, an engineering wonder of the Colorado River that straddles the Arizona-Nevada border.
According to the Western Area Power Administration, electricity produced at Hoover Dam continues to flow to 8 million people in Arizona, Nevada, and Southern California.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, and authorities have been working to determine the extent of damage to one of the 15 transformers in the complex that controls the voltage of electricity sent to customers.
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“There is no threat to the power grid,” said Jacklin Gould, Regional Director of the United States. Complaint Bureau. Mr. Gould said in a statement that the fire ignited around 10 am and was extinguished within 30 minutes.
It attracted the attention of tourists, an alarm sounded, and he felt the ground collapse underneath.
San Francisco’s 13-year-old William Hero was on the observation bridge with his parents when he saw the explosion and heard the “Big Bang.”
He said, “A lot of black smoke exploded in the air. The fire continued after it looked like a mushroom.” “I was really surprised and started shooting.”
The blast occurred in the apron of a turbine-accommodating building located approximately 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Las Vegas, just downstream from the base of the dam.
The 221-meter Hoover Dam is one of the tallest concrete dams in the United States. Each of the 17 generators can power 100,000 households.
Up to 20,000 vehicles cross the wide summit of the Dam, a National Historic Landmark, and are featured in movies such as Transformers and Fools Rush In, every day.
Most drivers traveling between Arizona and Nevada use a bypass bridge over a dam that opened in 2010.
Federal authorities have recently taken steps to reinforce the lake in order to maintain the dam’s power generation capacity and keep water flowing to the western states and Mexico that depend on it.
Droughts and climate change have caused the lake to sink to its lowest levels in decades.
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Threatening Part
Hydropower at these dams has recently been threatened by low water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, two of the largest man-made reservoirs in the United States, including water from the Colorado River.
Federal authorities have recently taken steps to reinforce the lake in order to maintain the dam’s power generation capacity and keep water flowing to the western states and Mexico that depend on it.
Droughts and climate change have caused the lake to sink to its lowest levels in decades.
