POSTED: 06:22 p.m. HST, Apr 23, 2011
LAST UPDATED: 07:20 a.m. HST, Apr 24, 2011
Firefighters are still looking into the cause of a small fire in the battery room of a new wind farm in Kahuku.
The Honolulu Fire Department said the fire was extinguished by the time firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after the 5:45 p.m. Friday call.
“The smoke had gone down significantly after the building was de-energized and we didn’t feel it was necessary to go in until it was safer this morning,” he said.
Firefighters monitored the situation through this morning, when hazardous materials personnel went in to survey the structure and deem it safe.
Damage appeared to be minimal, Seelig said. Company officials are working with fire investigators to determine what caused the fire and provide a damage estimate.
First Wind dedicated the 30-megawatt facility, the island's first large-scale wind farm, last month. The farm has a 15-megawatt battery energy storage system that smooths out drops in power output caused by changes in the wind.