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A reactor “catastrophically failed" at the Duquesne Lighting electrical facility on Brunot Island just after 8 p.m. on July 24, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety.
The reactor failure sparked "multiple explosions" leading to several fires at the facility, Assistant Pittsburgh Fire Chief Brian Kokkila said.
These fires took hours to put out because crews had to ferry over to the island and due to 340,000+ volts within the station, Kokkila explained.
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, EMS, and Police responded.
"The Norfolk Southern Rail line that crosses the Ohio River over Brunot Island was temporarily shut down during the fire and emergency operation," as stated in a release by Pittsburgh Public Safety.
Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire extinguished the fire and "douse it with additional water to cool down the site" public safety officials said.
Although the fire and smoke were visible for miles, Pittsburgh Public Safety said there is "no threat to the public."
The officials clarified that this is a coal-power energy plant not nuclear, and in a later release the reactor was called a "specialized transformer."
There were no injuries to first responders or DLC crews, authorities said.
Duquesne Light released a statement on Tuesday morning explaining that service was never disrupted.
DLC and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire "will continue to investigate the cause and monitor any further impact," Pittsburgh Public Safety concluded.
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