Explosion at Hoover Dam

The Hoover Dam was rocked by an explosion, and thick black smoke could be seen coming from the historic site.

A source confirmed that a transformer blew up at Hoover Dam on Tuesday morning, which caused a fire near the Arizona turbine house.

Boulder City FD confirms that a fire after an explosion was reported at Hoover Dam Tuesday was extinguished when crews arrived.

Videos posted on social media showed what appeared to be a fire or explosion in a building near the base of the dam.

After the explosion, the Bureau of Reclamation said that power was still being made and that the power grid was not in danger.

“At approximately 10am PDT the A5 transformer at Hoover Dam caught fire within the last hour and was extinguished by the Reclamation/Hoover fire brigade at approximately 10:30am PDT. There are no injuries to visitors or employees. There is no risk to the power grid and power is still being generated from the powerhouse. We are investigating the cause of the fire and will provide additional updates as they are available.“

Boulder City says that by the time the fire crews got there, the fire was out.

The fire stopped tours of the dam for about 30 minutes, but they have since started up again.

The dam contains a total of 17 primary turbines, of which nine are located on the Arizona wing and eight are located on the Nevada wing.

There is currently no information available regarding the origin of the fire.

More to follow…