A fire broke out late Sunday at Georgia Power’s Plant McDonough-Atkinson near Smyrna, the company said.
In a statement, Georgia Power said there was a transformer fire within the plant’s switchyard, but not within the plant itself. No injuries were reported, the company said.
Social media users reported hearing an explosion in the area, and Cobb County fire crews found heavy smoke and fire coming from the transformer when they responded around 11:30 p.m.
“Thirteen initial firefighting apparatus were dispatched with 33 personnel,” fire spokesman Nicholas C. Danz said in a news release. “An additional four hazardous materials apparatus were dispatched with 10 personnel.”
While the department reported just before 4 a.m. Monday that the blaze was “under control,” crews remained on the scene until 10:30 a.m.
Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft said in an email that “there were no extended customer power outages as a result of this incident.” He said that the company is working to determine what caused the fire but said it’s believed to be “the result of equipment failure related to the transformer.”
The plant is located on South Cobb Drive near the Chattahoochee River. In 2011, Georgia Power quit using the coal-fired units at the plant and the next year began operating with natural gas, according to the company’s website.
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