FIRE RISKS
Fire is the second leading cause of reported accidents in wind turbines.
Overall, the top 3 causes of accidents in wind turbines are:
However, 91% of wind turbine fires go unreported therefore it is questionable if it is really second.
Lightning
If a turbine is hit by lightning, the company that owns the turbine is not responsible for any damage or injuries caused by the resulting fire.
It is important to note that in most cases, the company that owns the wind farm is not required to carry insurance for accidents caused by the turbines. This means that if you receive injuries in a wind turbine accident, you may have difficulty collecting compensation from the company.
Wind Turbine Technician Death Rate
The most common danger is to workers who work in the construction, maintenance, or repair of turbines. Wind turbine technicians have one of the highest death rates of any profession.
Dangerous conditions within Wind Turbines
- Packed with flammable and toxic oils, plastics, fiberglass and low-ignition point metals, like aluminum, when one of these things spontaneously bursts into flames, everybody for miles around knows all about it. Families downwind from turbine fires have suffered from toxic fumes and fiberglass fallout polluting their water and pastures.
- Because the turbines are so tall and are often in remote areas, they are usually destroyed before the fire can be suppressed. In 90 percent of the cases, the fire leads to substantial downtime or a total loss of the wind turbine.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/wind-farm-fires-far-more-common-than-reported-study-finds