BOULDER CITY, Nevada (AP) – A transformer exploded Tuesday at Hoover Dam, producing a cloud of thick black smoke and flames that quickly went out. No one was injured and electricity continued to flow from one of the country’s largest hydroelectric facilities, authorities said.
“There is no risk to the power grid,” according to Jacklynn L. Gould, regional director of the Federal Recovery Office for the Lower Colorado region. The fire broke out around 10 a.m. and was extinguished in half an hour, he said.
Hoover Dam, located on the Nevada-Arizona border about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Las Vegas, is a popular tourist destination and some of the visitors captured the scene on video and quickly shared it on the social networks.
William Herro, 13, of San Francisco, was on a lookout bridge with his parents when he saw the explosion and then heard a “big boom.”
“A ton of black smoke just exploded in the air. It looked almost like a mushroom and then a fire broke out,” said Herro, who posted a video with his mobile on TikTok. “It surprised me a lot and I started filming.”
Publications showed that the explosion occurred in a building slightly downstream of the base of the dam. The resort is located on the Black Canyon of the Colorado River.
The cause of the fire is being investigated and it is unclear to what extent the damage to the transformer was.
According to the Claims Office, the dam is the second tallest in the United States at 221 meters (726 feet). Each of its 17 generators can supply electricity to 100,000 homes.
Up to 20,000 vehicles a day cross the wide summit of the dam, which is a National Historic Landmark.