Austria Solar reports brush fire, facility back to nameplate output except one row; investigation cited tracker failure

Cypress Creek representative John Volz updated the Energy Facilities Site Evaluation Council on a May 28 thermal event at the Austria Solar facility that produced smoke and a brush fire but no injuries.

Volz said a single on‑site representative discovered smoke at about 2:30 p.m., emergency responders arrived by about 3:15 p.m., and the fire was extinguished by about 5:40 p.m. "There were no injuries that had occurred," he said. The initial investigation concluded a portion of the tracker assembly became dislodged, pinched a messenger cable and exposed conductor; that conductor sparked into the brush below.

Volz said the impact covered "about 6 blocks of the facility" and he estimated "around 40 acres," but added damage to facility equipment was minimal — a single solar module and a row of messenger cable were damaged and would be replaced. The affected rows were powered down and remained offline until investigation and repairs were complete; otherwise the site was back to nameplate generation and the Bonneville Power Administration had authorized commercial operation.

Councilor Brian Rybaric thanked first responders and asked whether the impacted rows had been inspected before returning to full generation; Volz said the remaining facility was inspected, the cause was investigated and the damaged module will be replaced by the end of the week. Volz also noted he would report panel disposal plans in the next monthly report; most panels are recycled but heavily burnt modules may require standard disposal.

No council action was required; staff said they will include the final report in project materials.