The Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Two fires that have temporarily shut a major electrical plant in this U.S. Caribbean territory were not set by saboteurs, fire investigators said Thursday.
The exact cause of the damaging fires at Puerto Rico’s Palo Seco power plant have not been established but investigators ruled both fires were accidental, Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila told reporters at a news conference in the capital of San Juan.
“It was a lamentable chain of accidents. There is no evidence of an intentional act by anybody,” said Acevedo, flanked by the board president of the island’s power authority.
The Puerto Rican governor had posted National Guard troops at power installations across the island on Sunday after high voltage lines and a turbine at the plant in suburban San Juan were extensively damaged by two fires that he said could have been acts of sabotage.
Damages of US$50 million (euro38 million) were estimated at the power plant, which is expected to be closed for at least six months, according to Acevedo.
Earlier in the day, Luis Anibal Aviles Pagan, board president of the territory’s power authority, announced the utility’s executive director had stepped down. Aviles said Edwin Rivera, who was appointed to the top job a year ago, left voluntarily.
“Neither the board nor the governor asked for his resignation,” Aviles said in a radio interview. He did not disclose any reason for Rivera’s resignation.