A massive fire destroyed a wind turbine and burned a large farm field in Adair County Tuesday morning.
The fire burned so hot it destroyed the 22-story tall structure. It consumed the nacelle that holds the generator and one giant blade, which crashed to the ground.
“It’s crazy, it’s nuts. I can’t believe it. But I can, as dry and windy as it is. But it’s something else,” said Noah Kouri, who lives nearby.
The fire eventually spread to the cornfields below. That created a giant plume of smoke that spread north toward Interstate 80. The smoke was visible for miles.
“I was coming home at like the Dexter Exit, Redfield, like 10 miles from here, you can see the smoke everywhere,” said Amy Budd, who lives nearby.
Emergency crews from Adair and surrounding towns couldn’t do much but watch the fire. They had no equipment to reach the top of the wind turbine. Officials say it’s lucky that the field was freshly plowed, and that stopped the fire spreading too far.
“We are very fortunate that this field had al-ready been harvested,” Adair County emergency manager Robert Kempf said.
MidAmerican Energy says it doesn’t have a cause for the fire, but it is investigating.—INP
