Explosion Reported At Hoover Dam; Video Shows Heavy Smoke, Flames

BOULDER CITY, NV — Flames have been extinguished after an explosion Tuesday morning at the Hoover Dam in Clark County, Nevada, officials said.

Video posted on social media showed heavy black smoke and orange flames billowing into the sky at the dam, located on the Colorado River on the Arizona-Nevada border.

Crews with the Boulder City Fire Department were called for an emergency at the Hoover Dam, the city tweeted around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Officials said the fire was extinguished before firefighters arrived.

Further details weren't immediately available.

A second video also showed flames coming out of the dam. Sirens blared in the background, and the person recording the video reported that the nearby bridge she was standing on was shaking.

The Hoover Dam is still considered an engineering marvel 85 years after it was built.

Herbert Hoover became Secretary of Commerce in 1921 and proposed building a dam on the Colorado River to control flooding and irrigation, as well as provide a dependable supply of water for Los Angeles and southern California.

It would recover its cost through the sale of the hydroelectric power it generated, according to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. Construction began in 1930, and it was dedicated five years later.

The dam now controls the flooding of the Colorado River, irrigates over 1.5 million acres of land, and provides water to more than 16 million people. Additionally, the dam provides energy to power over 500,000 homes.