U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
The Hoover Dam fire brigade puts out a blaze after a transformer caught fire about 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Published Tuesday, July 19, 2022 | 10:48 a.m.
Updated 37 minutes ago
Smoke and flames erupted from Hoover Dam after a transformer fire Tuesday morning, but nobody was injured and the dam continued to generate power, officials said.
The blaze occurred about 10 a.m., and it took a fire brigade about 30 minutes to put it out, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the dam.
“There is no risk to the power grid,” Jacklynn Gould, director of the bureau’s lower Colorado region, said in a statement.
William Herro, 13, of San Francisco, was on a viewing bridge with his parents when he heard a “big boom.”
“A ton of black smoke just exploded in the air. It looked almost like a mushroom and then a fire followed,” said Herro, who posted cellphone video of it on TikTok. “I was really surprised and I started filming.”
A photo of firefighters on the scene appears to show the transformer on the exterior of the lower dam structure. The fire broke out on the Arizona side of the dam.
Dam management and engineers were assessing the damage and investigating how the fire started, said Doug Hendrix, a bureau spokesman.
“We quickly, with our fire suppression equipment and with our fire brigade, we were able to put the fire out,” Hendrix said. “Fires are rare in power plants, but they are not out of the ordinary.”
The dam, which straddles Nevada and Arizona, was dedicated in 1935 and generates hydroelectric power, as well as impounding Lake Mead, the source of drinking water for Las Vegas.
The dam is typically open to the public daily for tours, including the power plant. Tours were suspended Tuesday but will likely resume Wednesday, officials said.
Adrienne Maples of Overland Park, Kan., said she was touring inside the dam with her brother and daughter when the fire erupted. Their group was instructed to stay in place, she said.
“We had just come out the power plant and were waiting in the hallway,” Maples said. “We didn’t really know anything was up, but we were in the hallway for an unusually long period of time. We were actually already in a shelter area.”
“They said it was contained and there was no reason to worry. Nobody panicked,” Maples said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.