Duke Energy investigating after fire at Sutton Plant

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Duke Energy and firefighters are investigating to figure out what caused a turbine to catch fire at the Sutton Combined Cycle Plant in New Hanover County overnight.

Deputy Fire Marshal Ray Griswold says the call came in around 2 a.m. when a plant worker discovered heat levels rising at one of the plant’s turbine compartments. That’s when Griswold says about 50 firefighters arrived on the scene, along with police officers and EMS crews.

A Duke Energy spokesman says the plant’s fire extinguishing system went off before crews arrived. Crews say the flames were contained to the turbine compartment where the fire started, which is the farthest one from the old Sutton Steam Plant site now separated by a fence.

Griswold says a diesel fuel line was involved in the fire, and that flames burned some insulation. He says the turbine that caught fire was one of the three turbines at the new Sutton Combined Cycle Plant, which uses natural gas. Duke Energy says the old plant has not been used since the new one went online late last year.

Firefighters and Duke Energy both say that there were no environmental impacts. Duke Energy and fire crews will conduct a joint investigation today to figure out what caused the flames at the plant.

It was one of two fires overnight at Duke Energy facilities in North Carolina. Firefighters also responded to a fire at the Harris Nuclear plant in Apex.