By Vernon Robison

Moapa Valley Progress

A transformer at the NV Energy Crystal substation near Apex caught fire on Wednesday evening resulting in firefighters being called from all over the county. This included volunteers from Moapa Fire District stations. Photo courtesy of Julie Chadburn.

Moapa Valley volunteer firefighters were called out on Wednesday, September 14, to assist in fighting an industrial fire at a major NV Energy substation located just north of Apex, near I-15 mile marker 70.

One of the large transformers at the NV Energy Crystal substation reportedly caught fire at around 5:30 p.m. A large quantity of mineral oil, used in the transformer as a coolant, fed the blaze. But officials said that the fire did not spread to other areas of the substation.

It took firefighters from all over the county to bring the blaze under control. These included units from Clark County Fire Department, North Las Vegas and Nellis Air Force Base as well as the local volunteers.

Firefighters used foam to fight the fire. But water was not readily available at the site and had to be transported in tanker trucks from hydrants at the Harry Allen Power Plant and the Love’s Truck Stop at Apex.

That is where local volunteers were put to work. Clark County Fire Department Rural Coordinator, Mike Johnson said Moapa station 72 water tender and a rescue unit; Logandale station 73 water tender and engine; and Overton station 74 water tender were sent to the scene. Local volunteers hauled water needed to fight the fire.

Adequate equipment and personnel was left behind in the community to handle any emergency situations that might arise during that time, Johnson said.

“We recognized that we needed to protect the home front while we pulled these guys away,” Johnson said. “We had made arrangements with other units to respond if any support was needed in the valley.”

The fire was reportedly out by around 7:10 p.m. But the last firefighters were not released from the scene until around 11:30, Johnson said.

NV Energy officials are still investigating the scene and had not yet determined the cause of the fire.

“We do know that there was intense weather in the area just prior to the loss of that one transformer,” said NV Energy spokesman Mark Severts.

Severts said that no power outages to customers occurred because of the incident.

“We are pleased that our protective systems and related planning worked well in this situation to immediately isolate the problem, protect other equipment and avoid customer outages,” he said.

Severts explained that the large substation remains in operation and serving the NV Energy system, despite the temporary loss of the one transformer that was involved in the fire.