An offshore wind turbine in (한경면) Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju City has caught on fire.
With the help of firefighting helicopters, the fire was suppressed in three and a half hours.
This is the fourth case of a wind turbine fire in Jeju, and the first offshore wind turbine to catch fire.
Todd Thacker reports.

Flames pour from an offshore wind turbine.


The prevailing wind directs the fire to the blades.


This blaze broke out around 4 a.m. last Sunday (Nov. 8) at an array of offshore wind turbines at (두모리) Dumo-ri, (한경면) Hangyeong-myeon.


The Coast Guard’s rescue craft and a 500-ton Guard vessel were mobilized to put out the fire.
However, it proved difficult to approach the 80-meter-high turbine.


Fire helicopters and support aircraft from the Korea Forest Service were urgently deployed. They managed to extinguish the blaze in about three and a half hours.



The wind farm operator said that the generator suddenly stopped just before the fire.
Provincial officials and the operator will dismantle the burnt-out turbine this week at the earliest.

The now disabled turbine is part of the island’s first offshore wind farm which began operating in 2017.
Each of the 10 wind turbines can supply 3 megawatts of power daily, enough for 2,500 homes.


After the province and the wind farm operator disassemble the wind turbine, experts will pour over the damage to identify the cause of the fire.


To date, there have been four separate wind turbine fires on Jeju, though this is the first offshore installation to go up in smoke.

Todd Thacker, KCTV