The Hoover Dam is shown from the Arizona side in the early morning of May 6, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Blake
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
July 19 (Reuters) – Local firefighters responded to a fire at Hoover Dam on Tuesday but the blaze was quickly extinguished before Boulder City Fire Department arrived on scene, the Nevada city said on Facebook.
An unconfirmed social media video, apparently taken by a tourist, showed a small explosion and smoke and fire coming from the base of the dam.
“We arrived to the scene and turned away. Everything was all set,” Lisa LaPlante, Boulder City communications manager, told Reuters. “The fire was extinguished.”
No one was transported to the hospital by Boulder City emergency responders, she said, though other units were on the scene.
The dam, completed in 1936, sits on the Colorado River at the Nevada-Arizona border and impounds Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States. It is crucial to the water supply of 25 million people including in the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Reporting by Daniel Trotta and Tyler Clifford
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.