The developer of Isle of Wight County’s largest operational solar farm says the project wasn’t the cause of a Jan. 17 brush fire that burned 400 acres off Mill Swamp Road. Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue officials also say the point of origin was not near any electrical or solar equipment.
Isle of Wight’s 911 center received calls around 11:20 a.m. reporting a brush fire in the 10100 block of Mill Swamp Road, roughly 7 miles outside the town of Smithfield, resulting in the road’s closure at its intersection with Burwells Bay Road for roughly six hours as over 70 firefighters from multiple jurisdictions worked to contain the blaze.
The location was near an area of the 1,750-acre Cavalier solar farm, which spans the Isle of Wight-Surry county border and began operating in 2024. The project’s Arlington-based developer, AES, says the project wasn’t the cause of the fire nor damaged by it.
“Our field operations team was dispatched immediately upon learning of the incident to monitor conditions and provide any necessary access needed by the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue team,” said Dale Ulman, field operations team lead for Cavalier Solar. “The source of the fire is undetermined but was unrelated to the Cavalier Solar project. All array areas and the substation were unaffected; however, the fire did extend to a portion of our easement. Upon inspection, the team determined there was scarring but no structural damage to two riser poles.”
Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Chief Garry Windley said the cause of the fire remains undetermined.
“The fire continues to smolder within the containment lines and will until we get significant rain,” Windley said. “After crews revisited the scene and based on witnesses, the point of origin was not near any electrical equipment nor solar equipment and the exact cause of the fire may never be known. The fire did not get inside the solar farm fenced areas, therefore there was no damage to solar equipment.”
Departments in Surry, Southampton, James City and York counties, the cities of Suffolk and Hampton and the Virginia Department of Forestry brought around 75 firefighters in total to the scene. Windley said the blaze was declared under control shortly before 6 p.m. on Jan. 17. Firefighters returned to the scene Jan. 19 to check for flare-ups.
The Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department said the fire saw multiple wind direction changes, causing crews to evacuate, but there were no injuries and no loss of equipment. Smoke is expected in the area for the next week as small fires inside the containment area continue to burn.
Dominion Energy also responded to assist in containing and extinguishing the fire, which threatened a Dominion power station and electrical distribution lines. Isle of Wight County Fire and Rescue said there was no damage to the electric grid or any structures.
Shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday, Windley told the Times the fire had been 100% contained and that the Department of Forestry had cut several fire lines around the perimeter. A fire line refers to a cleared strip of land to remove flammable material.

source