BOULDER CITY, Nevada – No one was injured when a transformer at Hoover Dam caught fire briefly Tuesday morning, officials said.
“There is no risk to the power grid and energy is still being generated,” according to Jacklynn L. Gould, regional director of the Claims Office for the Lower Colorado region.
The fire broke out around 10 a.m. and was extinguished about half an hour later, he said.
Videos posted on social media showed what appeared to be a fire or explosion in a building near the base of the dam.
A huge column of black smoke swirled above the building.
The city of Boulder City posted on its Twitter account that the fire was extinguished before firefighters arrived. He referred additional questions to the Hoover Recovery and Dam Office.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Hoover Dam is located on the Colorado River Black Canyon, on the Nevada-Arizona border.
According to the Federal Claims Office, the dam is 726 feet (221 meters) high and 660 feet (201 meters) at its base, as long as two football fields are measured from end to end.
Up to 20,000 vehicles a day drive through the top of the 45-foot (14-meter) wide dam, which is a National Historic Landmark.