Solar panel fire throws New Bedford firefighters for a loop, cause under investigation

Email: eromano@abc6.com

Twitter: @Ellie_Romano

Facebook: @Ellie Romano ABC6

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) – The Registry of Motor Vehicles in New Bedford is back open after 10 solar panels caught fire on Tuesday. 

No one was hurt in the fire. The building sustained smoke and water damage.

The cause of the solar panel fire is still under investigation. 

Officials said this is the first solar panel fire the New Bedford Fire Department has ever tackled.

 “It made you call on a lot of your training and past experience,” said Matthew Ostiguy, the department’s acting district chief. 

Solar panels rarely catch on fire, so when they do, it’s uncharted territory for the firefighters. 

“When the panels are on fire, that changes everything. We don’t know how much is open, what is compromised, and what voltages we are dealing with,” said Ostiguy.

The department had to constantly monitor the voltage of the panels while battling the blaze. 

“They’re tricky because we know we have more power sources than normal that we need to isolate,” said Ostiguy.

In Tuesday’s fire, hundreds of panels covered the RMV’s roof with 10 on fire. 

The burning panels were in the middle of the roof, so the firefighters had to tread lightly to reach them. 

“They had to walk around the panels and put their feet in small openings between the panels,” said Ostiguy. 

According to the State Fire Marshal, in Massachusetts there have only been 32 solar panel fires since 2001.