The Minnesota Power Taconite Harbor Energy Center called for assistance with a fire in one of its indoor coal bunkers at 7:32 a.m. on Monday, May 2, 2011. The Schroeder Fire Department was on-scene by 7:52 a.m. with two trucks, including this pumper. The Tofte and Silver Bay Fire Departments responded for back-up as well. Fortunately the fire was extinguished quickly and the fire departments were released shortly after 9:00 a.m.
Motorists passing by the Minnesota Power Taconite Harbor Energy Center likely didn’t even notice, but firefighters were called to Taconite Harbor at 7:32 a.m. on Monday, May 2 to assist with a fire in one of the power plant’s coal bunkers.
The Schroeder Fire Department, Tofte-Schroeder First Responders and Cook County Ambulance responded. When the Schroeder fire department arrived at 7:52 a.m. and found flames in the indoor coal bunker, mutual aid was requested from the Silver Bay Fire Department.
The fire was extinguished fairly quickly. By 9:00 a.m.,Taconite Harbor Managing Superintendent David Rannetsberger was back in his office on the third floor and able to talk to the Cook County News- Herald about what happened.
Rannetsberger explained that spontaneous fires are not uncommon when coal is stagnant. He said coal piles frequently get “hot spots.” The small coal fires, which he described as similar to campfire coals, are normally extinguished by Taconite Harbor staff. And, if the hot spots occur in a working unit, they are just fed into the massive furnace to produce energy.
This fire started in a unit that had been shut down over the weekend for cleaning, so the coal had been stagnant long enough to burn hotter. “This time we had visible flames, which we normally don’t see,” said Rannetsberger.
The fire department was called mainly as a precaution, to be on hand if the fire did spread. “We actually took care of it in-house with fire department oversight,” he said.
Likewise, Rannetsberger said, the Silver Bay Fire Department was paged as an additional precaution.
By 9:15 a.m., all of the fire and rescue vehicles were clear of the scene.
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