Officials Still Puzzled by Mystery Wind Turbine Collapse
KILDARE, Okla. — Officials in rural northern Oklahoma are still trying to figure out what led to the collapse of a massive wind turbine on a private farm near the town of Kildare.
Officials with the Kildare Fire Department described the scene they found at the site — a pile of twisted and mangled turbine material — as “bizarre” because the collapse occurred on a relatively windless day.
Kildare, in Kay County, Oklahoma, is a sparsely populated area of about 100 residents. According to published reports, neighbors living as much as four miles away either heard the colossal structure crash to the ground or felt what they thought was an early morning earthquake.
The fire department began receiving calls about the incident about 7:23 a.m. Tuesday morning.
So far no one has a clue why it happened, though there are reports several other turbines in the area shut down right before the collapse.
No one was injured.
The Well News contacted Southern Power, which purchases electricity from turbines in the area, and a representative there said they thought the collapsed turbine might belong to the Deriva Energy Company.
A call to the Deriva Energy Company was not returned.
Kildare Fire chief Travis Harris told The Well News Friday morning that the department turned the matter over to the energy company, which is as perplexed as everyone else about what happened.
“I’m sure it’ll be a while before anything is found,” Harris said via email. “We’re still working on getting a crane in and set up to remove the debris.”
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
