--- title: "Something Just Exploded at the Hoover Dam" description: "The Boulder City Fire Department is responding to an emergency call at the Hoover Dam, a hydroelectric dam and major tourist attraction." date: "2022-07-19" modified: "2022-07-19" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/explosion-hoover-dam" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "emergencies" - "hoover dam" - "hydroelectric power" - "the digest" --- # Something Just Exploded at the Hoover Dam ![The Boulder City Fire Department is responding to an emergency call at the Hoover Dam, a hydroelectric dam and major tourist attraction.]() *\Image: Kristy Hairston/Twitter/TikTok\* ## 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](). https://twitter.com/kristynashville/status/1549441916000825344 ## 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. **More on dams:** *[China Says It's 3D Printing a 590-Foot Hydroelectric Dam With Zero Human Labor]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()