Overview
- The wind turbine near Crostwitz, which caught fire early Monday, left its nacelle to burn out as falling debris ignited small ground fires that crews extinguished.
- Police opened a criminal investigation on suspicion of arson after the operations manager reported a broken door lock the evening before, and investigators are still determining the cause and the extent of the damage.
- Firefighters cordoned off the site and kept a fire watch, and the mayor said the remote location posed no risk to the public because it sits more than 200 meters from the road.
- The two machines belong to a 2001 community project with 28 local stakeholders, and one unit was already out of service before the blaze disabled the second.
- The nacelle sits about 60 meters up, which made hose streams ineffective, so crews focused on dousing spot fires on the ground and securing the perimeter.