[little jeremiah]

I read that the water levels in Lake Mead are extremely low. Could that have anything to do with the transformer blowing up/catching fire?

We have transformers on the power poles doing that a lot around here. Often in high heat or when trees/branches fall on the lines. Or some idiot crashes into a pole. All for these happen frequently around here.

[HippyLoggerBiker]

“I read that the water levels in Lake Mead are extremely low. Could that have anything to do with the transformer blowing up/catching fire?”
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I need more info, before I speculate about the cause, source, or component involved in the fire.

Here’s a short recent video (8min28sec) about Lake Mead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv9UdXwhjhc

[meyer]

I’m almost (but not quite) certain that the transformers there are not water cooled. Typically, they’re filled with insulating oil, then the oil is circulated, either by pumps on the larger transformers, or convection on the smaller ones, through radiator fins where fans blow air across to cool the oil.

A couple of things could have happened - lack of maintenance and keeping tabs on the transformer may have resulted in breakdown of the oil’s insulating qualities and internal short-circuit/failure which could cause it to potentially explode and catch fire. Or, the oil level wasn’t monitored and got too low. Cooling system failure (though they should trip off line if they get too hot, automatically).

It’s not common, large transformers in substations and plants do fail once in a while.