Something Just Exploded at the Hoover Dam

Well, that's not good.

Dam Explosion

The Boulder City Fire Department responded to an emergency call at the Hoover Dam, a hydroelectric plant and major tourist attraction on the border between Nevada and Arizona, after an apparent explosion.

Videos posted to Twitter showed what appear to be pieces of machinery going up in a blast, releasing a massive billowing cloud of black smoke.

"My goodness, something's just blown up," Kristy Hairston, who was touring the dam on Tuesday, said in her video.

Fortunately, "the fire was extinguished before Boulder City Fire Department arrived on scene," according to an official Boulder City statement.

Fire Extinguished

Just over an hour later, we finally heard more about the incident.

At around 10am local time a transformer caught fire, according to a statement by the Bureau of Reclamation, a federal agency that oversees water resource management. Roughly 30 minutes later, the fire was later extinguished by the Hoover fire brigade.

"There are no injuries to visitors/employees," the Bureau said in a tweet. "There is no risk to the power grid. Power is still being generated from the powerhouse."

Constructed in the 1930s, the Hoover Dam is one of the largest hydroelectric plants in the US, enclosing Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the country.

Around seven million tourists come by the dam per year, making it the most visited dam in the world, according to the National Park Service.

Fortunately, it sounds like the incident was small and contained, which meant that nobody got hurt.

The Bureau of Reclamation is now "investigating the cause of the fire" and says it will provide additional updates.

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