Emergency personnel and Con Edison Development want to make sure a plan is in place in the event of a disaster at its solar park in Nesquehoning.

The borough’s three fire departments, solar park officials and the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency recently converged on the PA Solar Park to conduct a nighttime drill that included a fire at a substation after a thunderstorm, as well as one of the 10 inverters at the park that was leaking on the property.

“Con Edison Development appreciates the critical services provided by local fire departments and emergency management organizations within the communities in which we own and operate facilities. We believe in supporting their work through joint preparation for potential events at those facilities,” said Jim Dixon, Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses Chief Operating Officer. “We are grateful to Nesquehoning, Hauto and New Columbus volunteer fire personnel, the local 911 operator and the emergency management agency team for their response and participation in the recent fire drill at our solar facility in Nesquehoning.”

The drill called the three fire departments to the site at 6:30 p.m. Crews then established an incident command area, tested the fire hydrant on the property and prepared a spill containment from the failed inverter with collaboration from the Carbon County EMA.

“This important opportunity … allowed the firefighters to become better acquainted with the facility, better informed about the operation at the site, and better prepared for any potential emergency situations at the solar facility.”

John McArdle, fire chief for Nesquehoning Hose Company, said that the drill provided fire personnel with two isolated incidents that could very well happen at the site.

“Our main goals for the drill were awareness, preparedness and safety of the emergency responders,” he said. “We also had the opportunity to observe and evaluate Con Edison’s emergency action plan for the site.

“The plan and officials and emergency responders interacted well together.”

PA Solar Park is a 10-megawatt solar park located off Fourth Hollow behind Industrial Road near the Hauto Valley Estates portion of Nesquehoning.