A wind turbine near Highmore caught fire Monday morning. Highmore fire chief Ken Hoffman attested to the rarity of such a spectacular hazard:
Hoffman said he had never seen a fire erupt from a turbine before and that the damage from the blaze completely destroyed the turbine.
“One of the blades was on fire, and the whole generator up there was burnt,” Hoffman said [Quinn Gienapp, “‘Completely Destroyed’; Highmore Turbine Fire a Rarity,” KELO-TV, 2026.10.21].
Nobody died, human, bovine, or otherwise. Chief Hoffman couldn’t say what caused the fire, but remember: the stuff that burns in a wind turbine is the oil that lubricates the parts inside. And keep some perspective: had this been an oil refinery fire or spill, we’d have had toxic carcinogens all over Hyde County, evacuations, and long-term health hazards.
“Oil and gas industry failures tend to be pretty mundane, but anytime something goes wrong with renewable energy, people just become incensed,” the Alliance for Affordable Energy’s Jackson Voss said in a phone interview. “Oil and gas is either not treated with that same level of concern or is treated as if it’s overblown.”
…“If a wind turbine breaks down, there’s a small possibility someone gets hurt … but when an oil and gas spill happens, it’s a real potential public health hazard,” Voss said. “Often, it’s many times more expensive to address and requires years of mitigation” [Wesley Muller, “The Stark Differences Between Wind and Oil Industry Accidents,” Louisiana Illuminator, 2024.08.06].
Wind energy causes fewer deaths per terawatt-hour of electricity generated than any fossil fuel source. Even dams are slightly more dangerous than wind turbines. The only energy sources less lethal than wind turbines are nuclear and solar:
But despite the relative risks, America’s destroyer-in-chief is urging the United Kingdom to tear down its North Sea wind turbines and drill for more oil. Trump yesterday declared that imported wind turbine parts threaten national security but didn’t order any new tariffs on wind-energy gear.