Document text
Lost Creek dam transformer blaze remains mystery By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers doesn't know yet whether a defect caused a new transformer to catch on fire Wednesday in Lost Creek dam's powerhouse. Lost Creek Lake project manager Jim Buck said it was "too soon to say" whether the transformer, which had been in operation for less than 24 hours, had a defect that triggered the fire that caused an estimated $30,000 in damage. The 6:10 p.m. fire was in the underground powerhouse at the base of the dam, which spans the upper Rogue River near Trail. The smoking transformer triggered a fire alarm within the powerhouse, and a Corps engineer found the transformer on fire and telephoned for help. Fire crews from the Jackson County Fire District No. 4 used six chemical extinguishers to squelch the flames and then used high-powered fans to rid the area of smoke. Fire Chief Bob Miller said an automatic fire-extinguisher system within the powerhouse, and quick action by powerhouse operator Don Sharp kept the fire from spreading to other equipment. "We could see the glow down there, and there was a lot of smoke," Miller said. "When you practice all those safety procedures, it pays off when something goes awry. Everything went well." There were no injuries reported, and the structure was never threatened, Miller said. The dam's powerhouse harnesses the out-flow of water from Lost Creek Lake to generate electricity that is carried to the region's general power grid through Pacific Power transmission lines. Only one of the dam's two generators was in operation at the time, and that generator was running at half-capacity, said Steve Watkins, the Corps' assistant operations manager. The fire occurred within what is called a "power-potential transformer," a device which takes high-voltage alternating current and drops it to a lower voltage that eventually is used to generate an electromagnetic field that keeps the generator in constant operation, according to Watkins. Corps engineers had installed the generator Tuesday, Buck said. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.