Flames were visible from Route 8 and a state trooper on patrol called in the alarm. Eight firefighters and an engine were sent to the site. The fiberglass housing that covers the machinery of windmill number four was on fire. ...The windmill is so high in the air that we cannot reach it to perform any type of extinguishment efforts and we cannot be underneath it due to falling debris,” said March.

Safety Structural Failure Vermont

Company officials say the turbine went up in flames around 2 a.m. ...The 10 other turbines are being monitored before being started up again.

Safety Structural Failure Vermont

Vermont is considering a change to its energy policy that would end a practice that critics say amounts to double-counting the environmental benefits of its renewable sources of power.

Structural Failure Vermont

A wind turbine blade struck by lightning this summer on the Lowell ridgeline will be lowered to the ground for repairs early next week. ...The blade will remain on the ground over Thanksgiving holiday while the new finish is curing and then will be reinstalled on the tower.

Safety Structural Failure Vermont

Workers Tuesday were to complete cleaning up 55 to 60 gallons of gear oil that spilled Saturday from a wind turbine generator high on a ridgeline in Sheffield. ...The turbine generators sit atop 262-foot-tall towers. Each holds about 110 gallons of hydraulic and lubricating oils.

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Rob Pforzheimer, a Sutton resident and longtime First Wind critic, said, "This is the second haz mat spill [TNT truck in December] on this project and it hasn't even started producing anything yet. There will undoubtedly be more spills in the future.

Structural Failure Safety Vermont

There are 11 wind turbines at Green Mountain Power's Searsburg wind facility but recently one of them suffered a setback when its nacelle (or wind turbine gearbox) collapsed in high wind conditions. ...On Monday, September 15, a blade on turbine number 10 came in contact with the tower. The chain reaction caused it to buckle and it crashed to the ground, scattering debris several hundred feet from the structure. No individuals were hurt when the nacelle collapsed. However the nacelle leaked 40 gallons of hydraulic oil on the site.

Structural Failure Safety Vermont

When one of the 11 wind turbines at the Searsburg wind facility collapsed last month during wind gusts left over from Hurricane Ike, it spilled about 40 gallons of hydraulic oil and crankcase oil. The spill has since been cleaned up, the Agency of Natural Resources said. ...Tedesco said the turbines - blades, nacelle and tower - were designed to withstand winds of 100 miles an hour, and that the blade came off during a gust of wind measuring around 66 miles an hour on Sept. 15, tail winds from Hurricane Ike. He said the winds hadn't even been high enough to trigger one of the turbine's built-in safety features.

Structural Failure Vermont

A blade on one of the Searsburg wind power turbines flew off during a recent windstorm, hitting the tower the turbine sits on and destroying it. It is unclear when, or even if, the nonfunctioning turbine will be back to full capacity. It was one of 11 that make up the Searsburg project owned by Green Mountain Power. "We had some really strong winds coming through," said GMP spokeswoman Dorothy Schnure. "A blade failed and struck the tower."

Structural Failure Safety Vermont