Duquesne Light plant reactor failure sparks fires on Pittsburgh's Brunot Island

Aug 20, 2023

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Crews from Duquesne Light remain on the scene of an overnight fire at the company’s power station on Brunot Island on the Ohio River in Pittsburgh.

Fire crews extinguished the fire, caused by explosions at the power station, overnight, authorities said.

Pittsburgh Public Safety said the blasts were the “result of a reactor that catastrophically failed” and Duquesne Light officials later cited the failure of a “specialized transformer.”

Duquesne Light and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire are still investigating the exact cause. According to the company, crews are currently beginning the cleanup process.

“We will continue investigating the cause and working with the appropriate agencies to ensure the continued safety of our employees, customers and the environment,” Duquesne Light said in a statement. “We thank everyone involved for their hard and diligent work in getting this matter resolved safely.”

There were no injuries to first responders or Duquesne Light crews and no threat to the public, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety.

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire was able to extinguish the fire and douse it with additional water to cool down the site after being called to the scene shortly after 8:20 p.m. Assistant Pittsburgh Fire Chief Brian Kokkila said firefighters were only able to start putting out the blaze by about 11 p.m. because access to the island was limited.

Kokkila said the reactor failure led to one large fire and several smaller ones at the station on the island.

“We arrived with our crews and had a large fire and some small detonations happening on the island, as the result of a reactor failure,” Kokkila said Monday night, emphasizing that the reactor was not nuclear in nature.

“What is on fire is oil that’s inside the reactor and we’re utilizing a pre-planned operation using ferry boats to move equipment and personnel across the river as soon as Duquesne Light can make it safe for them.”

The Norfolk Southern Rail line that crosses the Ohio River over Brunot Island was temporarily shut down during the fire and emergency operation. It has since reopened.

In addition to the unusual access, crews were delayed in fighting the fire because of energized power equipment running at more than 340,000 volts.

“It’s going to be a long night,” Kokkila said at a media briefing. “I know it looks like we’re moving slowly, but we’re actually moving very fast. This plan has been in place for well over 20 years to get crews onto the island for something like this.”

Kokkila said there was no danger to the public.

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Duquesne Light has a number of facilities on the island and recently completed the second phase of its Brunot Island-Crescent Transmission Reliability Project, updating some of its oldest infrastructure and replacing transmission lines running from Crescent Township to Brunot Island.

Something is burning in the distance.#fire #Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/PdYB0yN91U

— Steven Adams (@fo2grfr) July 25, 2023

#BREAKING — A fire has broken out on Brunot Island where there is a power plant. Police tell me fire crews are having to ferry over to the island. There is not a vehicle bridge to the island. @WTAE pic.twitter.com/dLoOUdWbfj

— Kalea Gunderson - WTAE (@KaleaGunderson) July 25, 2023

UPDATE 3:

There are no reported injuries.

The fire and any related hazards are contained to Brunot Island.

Firefighters and @DuquesneLight are currently working the problem. https://t.co/u3XPYpOq7x

— Pittsburgh Public Safety (@PghPublicSafety) July 25, 2023

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .

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