Three investigative teams will be coordinated to learn the cause of this week's fire atop a 260-foot wind turbine north of Bloomfield, the state fire marshal's office said Thursday.

The fire occurred at one of 27 turbines on the 80-megawatt Elkhorn Ridge wind farm under construction. Once completed, Elkhorn Ridge will become Nebraska's largest wind farm.

The fire resulted in the hospitalization of a Vestas Wind Energy worker who suffered burns while working atop the wind turbine. The worker's condition was showing improvement the next day, Vestas spokesman Roby Roberts said.

Another worker on the ground at the time of the fire suffered smoke inhalation but was treated and released, Roberts said.

At this point, there is no indication of how the fire started, said Sean Lindgren of the Nebraska state fire marshal's office in Albion, Neb.

"We do not know of any possible causes," he said.

Investigators have been sent to the scene by the Nebraska fire marshal; the Edison Mission Group of Irvine, Calif., which owns the wind farm; and Vestas, a Danish company with North American headquarters in Portland, Ore., that is responsible for constructing the turbines.

"We are really in a standby mode until all the team members get together from the different companies to do a collaborative effort," Lindgren said.

He was unsure of the time needed for the investigation.

"I don't have any ideas on how long it will take," he said. "It doesn't happen that often to have three (teams)."

The three investigative teams will work jointly, Lindgren said.

"We are getting the teams together and figuring out what the plan is, then move on it," he said. "It kind of depends on the resources and what they gather. We are waiting for the direction that we need to take in a safe manner."

The effort takes on a different dimension because this week's turbine fire is "very unusual," Roberts said.

Edison Mission spokeswoman Susan Olavarria agreed, saying her company has not experienced anything like it before.

"This is my first time in this business that I have ever seen a fire like this," she said. "I have never heard of a fire at a turbine."

Meanwhile, work has been suspended at the wind farm, Roberts said.

"The site is closed while the investigation goes on," he said.

For safety reasons, the site has been sealed off from the general public, Olavarria said.

"We don't feel there is any imminent danger," she said. "It's just to prevent onlookers from coming onto the site."

Bloomfield fire chief Rodger Freeman said his department responded to the call around 11:30 a.m. and remained for about an hour. While he could not confirm the cause of the fire, Freeman said the turbine's cone does contain oil.

Nebraska will triple its wind energy production upon completion of Elkhorn Ridge and the neighboring 42-megawatt Crofton Hills wind farm. The wind farms will sell their electricity to the Nebraska Public Power District.

Elkhorn Ridge was scheduled to become operational this month. However, officials say they are not rushing to put the wind farm into production until the investigation is completed surrounding this week's fire.