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A wind turbine collapsed Wednesday morning at the North Fork Ridge Wind Farm in Barton County, but no one was hurt and utility officials say the collapse hasn’t affected electricity generation ahead of a winter cold snap. Liberty officials said in a written release that the incident, reported to them at 9:20 a.m. Wednesday, occurred just off Missouri Highway 126 and Route O in Barton County.
According to Logan County, Colorado, Emergency Manager Jerry Casebolt, several departments including Sterling and Peetz Fire were called to the scene after the failure was reported between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., finding the tower twisted and folded over in half, with the generator burning on the ground and billowing black smoke.
Firefighters from Peetz and Crook were called to the site near Peetz between 8 and 9 a.m. Thursday after one of the turbines apparently collapsed and caught fire. Logan County, Emergency Manager Jerry Casebolt told the Journal-Advocate word he heard at the scene was that the tower collapsed first and then caught fire.
A report delivered to the corporation in June 2022 from Montreal-based DNV Canada cited turbine blades with a "severe degree of damage or defect such that there is a high risk of imminent failure." DNV also concluded some of the turbines themselves had failed or missing components, representing "a critical impact to the operation of the turbine and/or a safety hazard."
One of the wind turbines in Hermanville, P.E.I., had two of its blades completely torn off as powerful winds raged across the province this week. The tower of the turbine known as Tower 9 is also damaged, and staff with the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action are investigating.