So I see this notice, and run downstairs, “Alan, we’ve got to move!” and we hustled over to the “Solid Waste Campus,” and at the Bench Street intersection, waiting for the light, a fire truck comes roaring up, I quick take a left and scoot over to the right to let them through, it’s Lake City.  Yeah, this must be some “active emergency fire situation.”  And sure enough, I pulled over, got out, and got a few shots until I was shooed away.  This is what we first saw, just as the sun was setting, about 9:15 p.m.:

KTTC from Rochester was there too, and here’s their report:

Fire breaks out in Red Wing incinerator

Posted: Jun 07, 2017 9:47 PM CST

RED WING, Minn. (KTTC) – A four alarm fire breaks out in Red Wing Tuesday evening, damaging an incinerator.

Sixty-five firefighters have been battling the blaze since around 7:45 p.m., and called in extra assistance from around the region.

The fire is at the site of the Solid Waste facility at 1873 Bench Street in Red Wing.

Authorities request that residents stay away from the scene, as it is still considered an active blaze.

The facility takes burnable waste from Red Wing and surrounding communities in Goodhue and Wabasha counties.

Police say there was no one inside at the time of the fire.

The city also states that refuse and recycling will be picked up at normal times in the area for Thursday, June 8th.

More information will be released as it becomes available.

And on WCCO:

I think it was still burning when we got there, for sure it was smoking intensely.  There was smoke coming out of the roof on the east side, and they sawed at least two holes in the roof in the middle of the north side, and they opened up the big “incoming” door for offloading trucks and were dragging metal out with a front end loader, and then spraying inside, digging, spraying, digging.  and given that the inside was massive piles of garbage, it’ll likely take a long time to burn out or be put out.  The building has got to be a total loss, the new garbage grinder too, no word, but I’m betting.  Rick Moskwa looked pretty grim tonight as he headed from the site around the tanning factory building to the parking lot.

The incinerator was shut down a couple years ago now, and the old garbage grinder… BURNED… so they got a brand new fancy schmancy one using Minnesota’s Renewable Development Fund to buy it, and the grind up the garbage and ship it down a couple miles to the other side of Red Wing to burn it in the Xcel Energy garbage burner.  Now look at this mess… their brand new grinder has got to be damaged, if not destroyed.

The incinerator burns… AGAIN… right, maybe this will get the message through, no garbage burning in Red Wing.  ZERO WASTE!  We need to take steps toward this now and make it happen.

And from Red Wing Fire Department ~ 10 a.m. 6/8/2017:

Red Wing Fire Department

2 hrs ·

For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 08, 2017
Contact: Shannon Draper, Chief
Red Wing Fire Department
651.388.7141

Incident Date: June 7, 2017
Incident Time: 19:49 (7:49pm)
Incident Address: 1873 Bench Street, Red Wing, MN 55066
Alarm level: 4 Alarms
Resources on scene: 8 Engines, 3 Ladders, 2 Tenders, 5 Ambulances, 1 Battalion Chief and 3 Chief Officers. Total of 70 Firefighters on scene

Red Wing fire department received a call of smoke coming from the Red Wing city waste campus building. Units arrived on scene confirming a working fire and upgraded the fire call to a 1st alarm. Upon entering, the building crews encounter heavy fire condition in the tipping room area. Due to the amount of material and equipment in the building, the fire quickly grew and eventually involved 40% of the 36,000sqft building.

Fire was declared under control at 22:30 (10:30pm). Crews remained on scene working to overhaul the large building, looking for hot spots and putting out small fires until 01:10 (1:10am).

The building sustained major damage and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Red Wing Fire Department wants to thank our mutual aid departments for assisting during this emergency.
• Ellsworth Fire
• Cannon Falls Fire
• Zumbrota Ambulance
• Lake City Fire
• Goodhue Fire
• Red Wing Police Department.

The mission of the Red Wing Fire Department is to enhance the safety and security of the community by providing cost effective protection of life and property, through fire prevention, public education, fire suppression and emergency medical care.

###

Remember the flooding info and maps I’d posted a couple of days ago, noting that two nuclear plants in Nebraska were in the flood inundation area?

Low-level emergency declared at nuclear power plant

Well, Frieda Berryhill sent this photo of the flooding at the Ft. Calhoun nuclear plant:

ftcalhounflood

Check the video, Omaha Public Power District – OPPD didn’t want the news crew filming the flooding!!!  And thankfully, they reported that point:

Flooding nuclear power station property

As if the flooding isn’t enough, they had an electrical fire, and shut down the spent fuel pond pumps to aid in fighting it.  There are many articles posted on this, all the IDENTICAL AP article, and not one mention of flooding:

Nuke plant stopped spent fuel pumps to fight fire

Here’s a local paper with some additional details:

Smoke causes scare at nuclear plant

Omaha Public Power District’s release on the flood:

OPPD Declares Notification of Unusual Event

June 6, 2011

As mentioned last week, the rising Missouri River waters have reached a level where OPPD is declaring a Notification of Unusual Event (NOUE) at its Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station. According to projections from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the river level at the plant site is expected to reach 1,004 feet above mean sea level later this week, and is expected to remain above that level for more than one month. OPPD notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and emergency management agencies in Nebraska and Iowa of the declaration.

A NOUE is the least-serious of four emergency classifications that are standard in the U.S. nuclear industry. Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station will not move out of this emergency classification until it is confident the water will remain below the 1,004-foot level.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission notes that a Notification of Unusual Event indicates events are in process or have occurred which indicate potential impacts to the plant. No release of radioactive material requiring offsite response or monitoring has occurred or is expected.

Fort Calhoun was in safe shutdown mode since early April for refueling the plant, and remains in that condition. In addition to the existing flood-protection at the plant, OPPD employees and contractors have built earth berms and sandbagged around the switchyards and additional buildings on site. They also are filling water-filled berms around the plant and other major buildings on site, have staged additional diesel fuel inside the Protected Area and are building additional overhead power lines to provide another option for power for the plant’s administration building, Training Center and one of its warehouses.


“HOT” off the press from Stop the Poles!  The Atlantic City Electric substation in southern New Jersy went up in flames today.

And as to the article below, keep in mind that this is one big honkin’ substation — “distribution” — I don’t think so…

How does a substation burn?!?!?!?!?!   Apparently it’s the plastic wall around it that’s on fire, the “sound” wall, but how could that be? How could that burn?  And I’ve heard that emergency crews can’t get near it,they’re on the scene, but aren’t allowed to get close.  That’s them banded together to the left of the line, and that’s the substation on the left.   Must be pretty intense toxic emissions?!?!?!

substationfire-2

Here’s another photo:

photo_2

Fire reported at Atlantic City Electric Co.’s Orchard Substation in Upper Pittsgrove

By Today’s Sunbeam
December 14, 2009, 4:36PM

UPPER PITTSGROVE TWP. — A fire has been reported at Atlantic City Electric’s Orchard Substation on Bridgeton Road here this afternoon.

Several Salem County fire companies have been called to the scene.

One nearby resident told Today’s Sunbeam that those living near the station had been told to temporarily leave their homes, although this could not be immediately confirmed through official channels.

Heavy smoke to could be seen in the area.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

The new station is part of Atlantic City Electric’s power distribution network in South Jersey.