A fire erupted around 10:25 a.m. on Monday at the Magma Energy's Amor No. 4 geothermal plant on Soda Lake Road.

Bill Lawry, Churchill County Fire Department safety training adminstrator, said a malfunction in one of the generating units caused the blaze. He added no one was injured in the fire.

Alison Thompson, vice president of corporate relations for Magma Energy, said the facility will re-open later today. She added the company is still investigating.

Also, Thompson said the second power plant did not stop production and was not damaged.

Three engines responded to the call, though, fire crews could not immediately extinguish the blaze because of the presence of pentane, a volatile liquid that could have caused an explosion.

“I don't know if it (the generating unit) overheated or what the problem was,” Lawry said.

The plant, though, had four automated high-pressured water cannons spreading water on flames reaching about 35 feet. The facility contains a 1 million gallon water storage system on site, which was used to douse the flames.

Lawry said the pentane gas was stored in a 1,500 tank near the generating unit and and crews had to wait about 90 minutes for it to burn out. He added the fire was subdued at 11:40 a.m. and crews waited about 45 minutes for the area to cool down before they entered.

According to Lawry, the foam was used to seal the pentane in case of any outburst. Lawry said the concern during the fire was a possible explosion from a pipe connecting the pentane to other units in the facility.

“If it explodes, you'd have a big, big problem,” Lawry said.

For more about the fire, read Wednesday's Lahontan Valley News.