Smoke pours out of Apple Valley Cub

Posted under Apple Valley on Thursday 29 July 2010 at 10:26 am

Grocery store evacuated and closed for hours; no injuries

by Laura Adelmann
Thisweek Newspapers

A leaky generator caused the Cub Foods in Apple Valley to be evacuated Monday night around 7:15 p.m., but no injuries were reported.

According to Apple Valley Police, thick, black smoke poured out the generator, located behind the building, and could be seen for miles around.

It was eventually determined that oil had leaked on the motor, causing the smoke, but there were no flames.

Apple Valley Fire Chief Nealon Thompson said the generator is used for backup power during high-peak periods of energy use and is controlled by Dakota Electric.

Apple Valley firefighters, engaged in training that night, arrived within one minute of the call, but had to wait until the generator was shut down by Dakota Electric before they could enter the building.

“If the generator is live and we’re running in … we could get an electrical shock,”  Thompson said.

The store was closed for two and a half hours while firefighters investigated.

The incident is now getting an even wider audience as video of it was posted on YouTube.

“We had 35 firefighters respond, which is a lot for, in the end, not being very damaging,” Thompson said. “But we’re talking about a commercial building. Should it have been a fire, we would have used every one of those.”

Laura Adelmann is at laura.adelmann@ecm-inc.com.

3 Comments

  1. Comment by Tom — July 30, 2010 @ 11:29 am

    AVFD needs to learn how to turn these kinds of generators off. They shouldn’t have to wait for someone else to turn the generator off before they can fight a fire.

  2. Comment by TK — August 3, 2010 @ 5:19 am

    Too many variables in backup power generation. Someone at the store should know how to switch power from backup to the main feed. Not the FD’s problem.

  3. Comment by jerrod — August 3, 2010 @ 9:21 am

    I fully agree with Tom.
    They were lucky this time. What would have been the case if their or others lives were in imminent danger?

    Nowhere near the same situation I know, but even gas company technicians are trained to turn off specialized Dakota Electric systems on a house.

    Our Fire Department needs to have the best and most advanced training available.


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