Schroeder, Tofte, and Silver Bay fire departments as well as the Tofte Rescue Squad and Cook County Ambulance responded to a fire in the coal bunker at Minnesota Power at Taconite Harbor Energy Center Thursday, November 5. The Cook County Sheriff ’s Office received a call at 5:42 a.m., with the caller reporting that the fire was contained but still dangerous.
The Tofte Rescue Squad arrived at 6:05 a.m., and the Schroeder Fire Department arrived two minutes later.
At 6:09 a.m. the Schroeder Fire Department requested assistance from the Tofte Fire Department and asked that Silver Bay be put on standby. At 6:31 a.m. the Silver Bay Fire Department reported that it would start heading to the scene “if that’s okay with Schroeder Fire Department,” the dispatcher’s report states. Schroeder said they could keep on coming.
“The fire had been going for a couple of days,” Schroeder Fire Chief Phil Bonin told the Schroeder town board five days later. “It probably would have put itself out,” he added, but not before blowing the ceiling off.
In a later interview, Bonin explained that coal enters the Taconite Harbor power plant through its roof. Spontaneous combustion is not uncommon, he said.
Minnesota Power employees had been using foam on the fire for a couple of days, but the night crew was not big enough to operate the equipment needed to keep it contained in the early morning hours of November 5. Bonin said the equipment requires about six people at a time.
The fire was extinguished with water. An infrared camera measured the temperature in the bin at 800 degrees Fahrenheit.
“It was hot,” Bonin said, especially with full firefighting suits and respirators. “It wears you down really quick. In the summer it’s even worse.”
The Schroeder Fire Department, the last to leave, cleared the scene at 8:38 a.m.
Two years ago, an explosion occurred at the power plant. A venting system was put in after that. Even coal dust in the air can spontaneously combust, Bonin said.
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