Power Plant Coal Fire Extinguished After 6 Days
Fire Department returns to County Grounds plant with more potent equipment to soak burning coal deep in bunkers. Unfortunately, escaping retardant causes small fish kill.
A coal fire that began early Sunday morning at We Energies' County Grounds Power Plant was finally put out after a 20-hour stretch of innovative firefighting throughout Thursday and into Friday. It took the Wauwatosa Fire Department with the aid of specialists and specialized equipment from as far away as Duluth, Minn., to douse and remove the coal after efforts by We Energies proved futile. Tosa firefighters were called to the Watertown Plank Road plant at 7:30 a.m. Sunday when coal ignited in bunkers on the sixth floor. Initially, it was determined that water could not be used because of the danger to and from the high-voltage electrical power equipment below. A truck from Gen. Mitchell International Airport was brought in and foam …
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Cheryl Nenn
11:06 am on Monday, November 12, 2012
Its a coal burning power plant. The Valley Plant is converting to natural gas hopefully by the end of 2013/early 2014, but I'm not aware of plans to convert this plant. I visited the site on Friday afternoon and did not witness any live fish, but lots of dead sunfish on the bottom of the pond still. Does anyone know if that pond is stocked with fish? I was surprised as a stormwater pond to see … more ›