Fire at Oak Creek Power Plant
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It happened after 7:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. Video by tmj4.com
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OAK CREEK - Crews have put out what We Energies officials describe as a small fire at a power plant in Oak Creek.
The fire was at the We Energies plant on the 11000 block of South Chicago Road.
"There was a coal leak that ignited into a small fire," said Mike, a subcontractor at the plant. He declined to give his last name.
"The fire started near where the coal is actually put into the boiler itself," said spokesman Brian Manthey. "We're still trying to investigate what would cause the small fire to start."
He said that the fire was put out "relatively quickly," and no one was injured because of the fire.
Crews were evacuated from the part of the plant where fire happened.
"They asked us to evacuate the southern half of the plant, which are units 5 through 8," explained Mike. He said crews were told to remain on standby for a potential all-clear which he said would come at about 9:00 a.m.
The fire occurred in a different part of the plant than the coal silo where an explosion happened in February of 2009.
"The coal handling unit is away from the boilers itself," said Manthey. "This one occurred where the boilers are, where the actual power is produced."
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