Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic
A fire burns at a transformer near Sun City on Sunday night.
Fireworks can be seen to the left and right
Laura Houston
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 5, 2004 12:00 AM
Firefighters watched in frustration Sunday as four electric transformers near Sun City burned into the night. Officials feared that the fire could spread to a dozen or so other transformers, and they had not figured out how to extinguish the blaze late Sunday. "We're letting it burn right now and sizing up the situation," said Jim Heger, the fire marshal in Sun City West. "It hasn't injured anyone, and that's the way we want to keep it."
The fire started about 7 p.m. in the Westwing substation near Loop 303 and Happy Valley Road. Arizona Public Service spokesman Damon Gross said no customers had lost power, but they may have to curtail their power usage in the future. Gross said he did not know what caused the fire.
Towering black plumes of smoke could be seen from as far as downtown Phoenix. Gross said the smoke was a byproduct of the mineral oil used to cool the transformers. An APS environmental team, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the state Department of Health Services were on scene late Sunday. Heger said officials could not determine how bad the air quality was because the monitoring devices were tied up in Arizona wild- fires.
At least 50 vehicles stopped near the substation to watch the two 500,000-volt transformers burn as orange and yellow flames licked the huge metal towers. Nine fire units responded to the scene, including a hazardous materials crew from the Glendale Fire Department. Gross said while the fire was unfortunate, the timing of the incident worked in customers' favor. "The demand for energy is less on a Sunday night than during work days," he said. "People don't use as much air-conditioning at night than during the day. So if these transformers had to be down, this was definitely the best time for it to happen."
Source
