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Depew fire chief reports solar-farm inverter fire contained; new apparatus arriving and junior firefighter recruits joining department
Summary
Fire Chief Bridal Musilak said a recent inverter failure caused a fire that was contained to a single solar panel and inverter; an investigation is under way. The chief also reported a new squad vehicle arriving, ongoing recruit training and the addition of three junior firefighters.
Fire Chief Bridal Musilak told the Village of Depew Board of Trustees on July 14 that crews contained a recent fire at a nearby solar installation to a single inverter and panel, and that an investigation into the cause is under way.
"We were able to contain it to that one solar panel and that inverter," Musilak said. He described the incident as the first inverter failure their solar contractor had reported across roughly 322 similarly built facilities, and said the contractor and village are working closely to identify safeguards.
Musilak said the department’s biggest on-scene concern in these incidents is preventing fire spread from panel to panel and avoiding exposures that could force sheltering or evacuations because of toxic smoke. The chief said the solar contractor is investigating whether the…
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