Wind turbine fires are ten times more common than the wind industry and its parasites claim (see our post here and check out this website: http://turbinesonfire.org).
The wind industry has been forced to concede that at least 4 bushfires were started by wind turbines in Australia, so far:
- Ten Mile Lagoon in Western Australia in the mid-1990s;
- Lake Bonney, Millicent (SA) in January 2006 (see the photo above);
- Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm, Port Lincoln (SA) in February 2009 (see The Advertiser article below); and
- Starfish Hill (SA) in November 2010 (see this link for more detail).
In Australia, plenty of other turbines have self-immolated, like this one at Windy Hill, near Ravenshoe west of Cairns in Far North Queensland:
This firey melt-down at Gunning, near Goulburn in New South Wales in January 2023:
A few weeks later and a 2MW Vestas determined to do much the same on the southern tip of South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, a place called Cathedral Rocks.
It’s not the first time one of Cathedral Rock’s 33 whirling wonders has gone up in flames: back in February 2009, 14 Country Fire Service firefighters were called in to deal with another turbine that went out in a blaze of glory; those firefighters were involved in a frantic bid to put out spot fires that threatened disaster for life and property. Fortunately, no lives were lost.
Once again, at the height of summer – a time when the Australian countryside is like a tinderbox ready to explode – another of these whirling wonders has decided to self-immolate.
This time the pyrotechnics broke out in South Australia’s mid-North at a place called Redhill. [Note to Ed: they might think of renaming it to Black Hill?]
Fortunately, the local Country Fire Service was quick off the mark and prevented what could have easily been a catastrophic, life-threatening bushfire. Welcome to your wind-powered future!
Wind turbine fire at Redhill
CFS
Media Release
7 February 2024
Wind turbine fire at Redhill – 7 February 2024: A fire has destroyed a turbine and caused multiple spot fires at a wind turbine farm in Redhill, located in the state’s Mid North.
5 CFS crews are currently working to create an exclusion zone around the collapsing wind turbine. The firefighters are staying on top of spot fires created by falling debris where possible while remaining clear from the turbine collapse zone.
Firefighters are expected to remain on scene for some time while the head of the turbine continues to burn out. The estimated damage amount of the impacted turbine is $2.2 million.
The cause of the fire is currently unknown.
[Note to CFS: this particular unit will have generated excessive heat due to a bearing or gearbox failure, that heat has ignited the 1,000L of perfectly flammable gear oil and/or 100L or so of hydraulic fluid. Once the oil or fluid ignites, the fire spreads throughout the nacelle housing, aluminium ignites, as do the plastics inside the nacelle. The fire then spreads outwards across the hub and ignites the plastic composites in the 15-tonne blades. See our post: Victorian Country Fire Authority’s Claim that Wind Turbines Not Combustible Scorched ]
CFS
Wind turbine destroyed in $2.2m fire as Redhill fire contained
The Advertiser
Leah Smith
7 February 2024
A wind turbine fire at a wind farm in SA’s Mid-North has caused millions of dollars in damage as one turbine was destroyed.
A fire at a Mid-North wind farm has left about 30ha of grass scorched and a $2.2m turbine destroyed. Six CFS crews were deployed to Clement Gap wind farm in Redhill to battle the blaze.
Owners Pacific Blue confirmed a “fire-related incident” affecting one of the turbines was identified by one of their maintenance crews about 8.30am.
An exclusion zone – created because of a potential collapse of the damaged turbine or falling debris and the hilly terrain, slowed firefighters tackling the blaze.
Spot fires created by fallen debris were contained while firefighters stayed clear of the collapse zone.
Pacific Blue confirmed no personnel sustained any injuries.
The Advertiser
STOP THESE THINGS 
Let’s stop all fossil fuels tomorrow, see how many more of these inept, useless things get made & installed (Ans – none) – without fossil fuels, wind farms would not be manufactured, transported, installed, operated & maintained
The fire dangers are real and this concerns those who are down wind of Arizona’s Chevelon Butte Wind Farm on the east side of the Canyon as there is no fire service access. There will certainly be fires “down the road” as this monstrous project completes by the year’s end, covering 49 square miles of open lands with frequently dry grasses and brush in summers. High wind event like we saw in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii in August 2023 would easily hop the canyon and destroy everything to the east. It’s 20 miles from Heber and rough roads for it’s fire department to arrive. Winslow is 20 – 30 miles north very difficult time consuming trek to cross the canyon at low point to the south, can fire trucks even navigate there on that route? From Show Low and Holbrook it’s 30 to 50 miles traversing Hutch Road. There needs to be a bridge over the canyon built so fire crews coming from Winslow down Route 99 could access everything east of Chevelon Canyon. For that matter there needs to be required installation of adequate fire response within 2 miles of any of these projects. Let history make note that GREED seems to ignore such obvious needs.
https://stopchevelonbuttewind.com/
There is also a growing recognition of the drying effect downstream of the facilities due to the turbulence of the air on the downwind side.
This does not cause ignition but it makes the vegetation drier and more susceptible to ignition from other causes.
It is also bad for plant growth and causes a local warming effect!