Turbine blade plummets to the ground

An investigation is underway near Port Burwell after a wind turbine fell apart. CTV London’s Brent Lale explains.

Dozens of onlookers stopped on a rural road in Bayham Township on Sunday after hearing of the collapse of a wind turbine blade.

The three massive blades and rotor lying in a field on Glen Erie Line near Port Burwell were described by those driving by as “carnage” and “very surprising.”

Capstone Infrastructure Corporation which runs the Erie Shores Wind Farm told CTV news the blade failure occurred shortly after 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 15.

“Capstone was made aware of an incident at the Erie Shores Wind Farm,” Megan Hunter, senior manager of communications for Capstone told CTV News in a statement.

“At approximately 5:03 p.m., the hub detached from the tower and fell to the ground with all three blades still attached. No employees or members of the public were injured - the landowners, neighbours, and their properties are safe.”

She added that the root cause of the blade failure is unknown at this time.

Sunday afternoon, employees were on site guarding the scene, and caution tape was along the property line in the ditch to keep onlookers at a distance.

Around 2:00 p.m., a security guard arrived and replaced those employees.

“The scene is secure, and out of an abundance of caution, the entire wind farm has been taken offline while we begin investigating the situation,” added Hunter.

“We are currently notifying all relevant parties to brief them on the situation and will provide more information when it becomes available.”

Photos were starting to make the rounds on social media which drew crowds.

“I just seen (sic) it on Facebook, so I had to come see it,” said one man who was taking a photo.

Others were surprised.

“You wouldn’t expect that the whole entire hub to come right off,” said David Peters, who lives nearby.

Others had their guesses as to why it happened. Everything from high winds to a potential lightning strike.

An on-site investigation is expected to begin early this week.