Abilene Times

With hundreds of wind turbines operating in Nolan County and at least one wildfire in the county blamed on a wind turbine, homeowners are worried about what could happen during the hot Texas summer. 

Livestock, property, and residents could be at risk if one of the 658 turbines between the Buffalo Gap wind farm owned by AES and the Sweetwater wind farm owned by Duke and Infigen Energy.

Sweetwater Fire Chief Grant Madden told KTXS12 that a wildfire on the Game Ranch started July 13, and was still active July 17. That fire burned just north of FM 89 near the Nolan/Taylor County line.

“There are probably 15 trucks out there working right now to make sure that the line is wide as they can make it and all the hot spots were put out," said Madden in an interview with KTXS12 on July 17.

Shane Robertson owns the land where the wind turbine sparked the fire, which burned about 300 acres of his 1,200-acre property. He’s concerned about the safety of these turbines, noting, “The financial reward of wind turbines is not worth the safety of your family and property.” 

"I'm still grateful for what they do and produce and income and economy that they provide for our area, but at the same time they have to be safe," said Robertson in an interview with the TV station.

AES, a Virginia energy company that owns the Buffalo Gap wind farm, provided a statement to KTXS12 as well. It read, in part:

"On July 13 a brush fire broke out at the Buffalo Gap wind farm, an AES facility in Nolan and Taylor counties in Texas, following days of extreme heat and strong winds in the area. The fire started at Turbine 46, north of FM 89, and eventually burned to west of CR 255 into a field where it was stopped. According to the local Mulberry Canyon Fire Department, approximately 3,000 acres were impacted.” 

The company said the blaze was 30% contained the day the fire broke out and completely contained the next day.

“The Buffalo Gap facility contains almost 300 wind turbines that are maintained according the manufacturer’s recommended standards. Regular maintenance is performed on the turbines two times per year, with monitoring of the facility conducted on an ongoing basis, the statement continued.

AES was reaching out to property owners around the Buffalo Gap wind farm to help with damage from the incident and are asking property owners who experienced damage as a result of the fire to contact Jim Albert at (325) 665-7782, james.albert@aes.com or Tracy Jarvis at (325) 725-6180, tracy.jarvis@aes.com.