Transformer Sparks Texas Power Plant Fire

An explosion sparked a fire that burned for hours at a vacant power plant in Pasadena Friday morning, KPRC Local 2 reported. Officials said a transformer caught fire underground shortly before 5 a.m. at the AES cogeneration plant, located at 901 Light Company Road and Lawndale Avenue. Pasadena firefighters had to wait for CenterPoint Energy to cut off residual power to the dormant plant before they could fight the blaze. "One of the main concerns to us is power -- make sure it's out before we start attacking this thing. There's limited water supply," Houston Fire Department Chief Tommy Dowdy said. Neighbors said their houses shook from the initial explosion. "I heard an explosion from down there. And when I went outside to take a look, we saw there was an explosion. I saw how the plant started to catch fire," a neighbor said. "At first I felt the house move and then a loud noise -- explosion," neighbor Guadelupe Lopez said. Dowdy said 2,600 gallons of oil were in the transformer vault. But it was not a hazardous concern. Power plant owner Ken Niznick owns the power plant next door and said he bought the abandoned plant in 2005. Even though the plant is dormant, he said the transformers need some electricity. "The reason we have power is we had to have power for some things. CenterPoint needed some power for some of the breakers. There's also some environmental equipment that we have down there that we still have that needs power, so that's why there's power there," Niznick said. The transformer is 30 feet underground. The blaze was extinguished by 8 a.m. No one was injured. The cause of the explosion and fire is not yet known and is under investigation. Niznick said the plant would probably be torn down in the next few weeks because of the fire. Electricity was out for about 7,000 customers Friday morning while officials cut off power to the plant so firefighters could battle the blaze safely.