SCHAGHTICOKE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Crews responded to a fire in the grass of a Schaghticoke solar farm on Monday. The Hemstreet Park Fire Department said the incident happened at the Herrington Community Solar Farm located on Bracken Road.
Download our WTEN+ streaming app on Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV!
Fire Chief George Conover said authorities received a call for a smoke investigation. When crews arrived, they contacted the operator of the site and didn’t enter until they verified the power was shut off.
When crews responded to the site, they did a search that determined the fire was on the ground, not the panels. Authorities deployed on ATVs with a water wagon and extinguished the ground fire.
An investigation determined there was a AC/DC converter that failed, sparked and then caught the grass on fire. The power system tripped the breaker and operated as it was supposed to.
Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox!
The fire was contained just to the ground, burning dry grass and clippings. Nothing else caught fire and there was no damage to panels, electric or other equipment.
Conover met with the solar farm’s operators on Tuesday, as well as the town code inspector. They discussed that prior to restarting the system, the operator will need to provide a letter saying the system meets all codes…