HAVERSTRAW – An explosion and electrical fire inside the GenOn Bowline power plant in Haverstraw brought out a large response of emergency agencies at mid-morning on Thursday.
There was initial concern that several employees were unaccounted for, but the plant manager advised that all employees were accounted for with no injuries.
It was determined that there was an electrical fire in multiple breakers of unit 1 that power the plant, powered by an estimated 13,000 volts. The fire did spread to the exposures.
A safety plan was established and was determined that no firefighting operation can occur until all sources of electricity were off. Once the power was shut off to the entire facility, firefighters began using dry chemical extinguishers on the breakers as well as the exposures.
Firefighters were called from West Haverstraw, Stony Point, Haverstraw, Suffern, Spring Valley, Nyack, and Mahwah. Monsey was called to cover the Thiells Fire District while the incident was occurring.
Other agencies involved were, Rockland Fire Coordinator office, Rockland County Haz Mat Team, Rockland Technical Rescue Team, Haverstraw EMS, Stony Point EMS, Spring Hill EMS, Rockland EMS Coordinator office, Haverstraw Police, Department of Environmental Police, and NYS Office of Fire Prevention and Control.
After the fires were extinguished, Mahwah FD used their fan boat to remove all smoke from the plant. All fire personnel were decontaminated as a precaution. All firefighters and employees were evaluated by EMS on scene.
The incident was under control shortly after 1 p.m. and all units cleared by 2 p.m.
