“There is no danger to the power grid and power is still being generated,” according to Jacklynn L. Gould, regional director of the Bureau of Reclamation for the Lower Colorado Region. The fire started around 10 a.m. and was extinguished about half an hour later, he said. Videos posted on social media showed what appeared to be a fire or explosion at a building near the base of the dam. A huge plume of black smoke swirled over the building. The city of Boulder City tweeted that the fire was extinguished before firefighters arrived. He referred additional questions to the Bureau of Reclamation and Hoover Dam. The causes of the fire are being investigated. Hoover Dam is located in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River on the border between Nevada and Arizona. According to the federal Bureau of Reclamation, the dam is 726 feet (221 meters) high and 660 feet (201 meters) at its base, the length of two football fields measured from end to end. Up to 20,000 vehicles a day pass over the top of the 14-meter-wide dam, which is a National Historic Landmark.
