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Fires Cause Shutdown of Ice Harbor Dam Power House by Staff Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, January 17, 2013

BURBANK -- Two small fires caused a shutdown of the power house at Ice Harbor Dam today.

Corps officials said the fires occurred about 9 a.m. inside two electrical cabinets. There were no injuries.

Three generators that were producing power at the time stopped and local power in the power house ceased briefly. Back-up power for operations restored basic facility power within 30 minutes.

Ice Harbor Dam staff took action to suppress the fires and firefighters with Walla Walla County Fire No. 5 responded to the alarm as well.

Staff at the dam are evaluating the generators and other components to determine the extent of damage and are working to restore power generation capability as soon as possible. The dam navigation lock returned to service at 12:40 p.m. and river flows previously passing the dam via power generation are being passed through the spillway.

The cause of the fires is being investigated, officials said in a release.

Walla Walla District Commander Lt. Col. Andrew Kelly thanked local firefighters who responded to the alarm.

"We really appreciate the prompt response of Walla Walla County Fire District No. 5," Kelly said. "It's great to know there are skilled emergency staff nearby to help out if we need them."

Related Pages:
Seasonal Hydropower on Lower Columbia & Lower Snake Rivers by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Government Data for January 2000 - August 2002