A transformer blew at the Fort Peck Dam powerhouse Thursday night, sending a live power line down and igniting a grass fire.
The incident knocked out power to more than 3,100 homes for several hours. No one was injured.
Watch Fort Peck fire story here:
Local agencies responded to the grass fire at around 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the Fort Peck Reservoir Powerhouse, said in a written statement that three operating hydroelectric generating units were offline for about four hours.
Glenn Meier, who lives nearby, received video from friends who were fishing near the power plant when the fire broke out.
Meier saw the fire from about two miles away through his living room window.
"And we got a blast of light that lit up our house in our backyard," Meier said. "And the explosion or the boom took place."
The sight prompted Meyer, who served as Valley County Sheriff from 2002 to 2016, to reflect on post-9/11 emergency preparedness training.
"We had practices out here," Meier said. "What if somebody attacked the dam and the powerhouses? I really hesitated to say that, but it's something you have to think about, as far as I'm concerned. Was it a terrorist act? Well, no, it doesn't appear to be."
Meier said the fire appeared to involve the transformer in the switch yard, but stopped short of drawing firm conclusions.
"I'm a speculator, you know, you've got a fire in a switch yard, and it was very obvious to me that it did affect the transformer," Meier said. "And the cause, I don't know,"
The Army Corps of Engineers and the Western Area Power Administration have not determined a cause and continue to investigate.
Neither agency was available for an interview.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
