Ron Brevig, plant director for Xcel Energy at Sherco answered some questions in regards to the coal “fire” that occurred July 16.

 

Brevig says the “fire” was actually several areas of smoldering coal located in the coal barn. He says there is more than 6,000 tons of coal in the barn at any one time and it needs to be properly managed and controlled for “hot spots”. In last month’s instance, the hot spots were discovered and the coal had to be removed outside by coal conveying equipment inside the barn.

 

Brevig was the one who called for emergency personnel and teams of firefighters from Becker, Big Lake, Monticello, Elk River, Clear Lake and Clearwater converged on the power plant. Throughout the day of the fire, firefighters had to work in shifts to provide enough manpower to oversee the process of cooling it down.

 

“We did call in experts from Duluth and from the east coast that have particulate expertise in coal fires of the nature at Sherco to advise us and assist local fire departments in how to approach this type of incident,” said Brevig. “The role of those brought in to assist was managing the hot spots while the Xcel Energy coal yard operators devised the plan to empty the coal barn and help manage hot spots.”

 

Brevig said at no time was the smoldering coal a risk or danger to any nearby residents or property owners and he had just one thought in mind as the coal smoldered in the barn.

 

“My biggest fear was the safety of the plant workers, fire officials and, of course, the public,” he said. “A concern was one of the hot spots would ignite coal dust in the barn, which could have resulted in a more serious situation.”

 

Brevig said the workers at the plant addressed the dust issue by controlling the hot spots and ventilating the coal barn by removing side panels from the structure to eliminate it. 

 

“Once the coal dust was eliminated, emptying the coal barn proceeded safely,” he said.

 

Brevig said in all his years working at Sherco, he has not seen a similar thing like that happen there in the coal barn but he said they have had hot spots in coal hoppers and storage silos before.

 

“We effectively handled those situations with the local fire departments,” Brevig said. 

 

Brevig said the hot spots were eventually extinguished by controlling them with water spray until they were removed from the coal barn. Once they were removed, the hot spots were doused and the residual coal was moved to an alternate storage pile for future use in the plant.

 

Sherco workers analyze every event that occurs at the plant for lessons learned and to improve safety and operations. He says they have established more strict administrative controls associated with coal barn operations that should prevent future accidents.

 

“In addition, as we complete the investigation into the event, additional processes and procedure changes will be developed and implemented,” he said. 

 

“There is a certain amount of risk involved any time fire officials have to be called,” Brevig said of the 911 call he made July 16. “But (firefighters) are trained experts at what they do and they — along with the Xcel Energy fire personnel — did an outstanding job of controlling the situation.”