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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Alex Crowe

Wind turbine fire near Hume Highway self-extinguished

A windfarm off the Hume Highway caught fire on Thursday morning. Pictures NSW RFS/Facebook and supplied

A fire on a wind turbine near Gunning self-extinguished on Thursday morning after firefighters battled to extinguish the hard-to-reach blaze.

Flames from the fire at the Lerida Road windfarm were visible from the Hume Highway.

The fire self-extinguished before 11am on Thursday, and Rural Fire Service NSW said they left the scene and left it to the contractors.

Firefighters were at the Lerida Road windfarm since early Thursday morning.

NSW Rural Fire Service said on Thursday morning there was no immediate threat to nearby properties.

Spokesperson Greg Allan said the use of a helicopter to extinguish the blaze had been ruled out, as had all other options.

Mr Allan said the wind farm contractor had attended the Lerida Road blaze alongside fire crews.

He said the contractor had advised the best course of action when it came to wind turbine fires was to let them burn.

"Due to the fact that it's a power turbine, best practice is to let it burn out," Mr Allan said.

"Dealing with electricity and power, it's probably not a good thing to put water on it."

Fire crews were yet to determine the cause of the blaze.

Mr Allan said it was possible the storms experienced across NSW and the ACT yesterday, particularly those storm cells which moved across the Southern Riverina, could have contributed.

He said he was not aware of wind turbine farms setting alight frequently or due to fault.

"I'm not sure of the cause of this fire," he said.

"It's certainly unique."

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A windfarm off the Hume Highway caught fire on Thursday morning. Picture NSW RFS
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