Baltimore Gas and Electric crews are working to restore power to parts of downtown Baltimore after an underground fire broke out on the conduit system below the 300 block of North Charles street.
Mayor Brandon Scott is urging commuters to build extra time into their morning drive, particularly around the grid at Centre, Liberty, St. Paul and Fayette streets. Light rail service between North Avenue and Camden Yards is currently suspended.
A spokesperson for the fire department reported that there were no injuries for civilians or personnel. As of shortly after 8am, only a few fire and electric crews remained on site as “some progress was being made.”
Shortly before 10pm Thursday night city fire crews received reports of blown manhole covers and smoke coming from underground near the 300 block.
City Fire department spokesperson Kevin Cartwright said he believed one or two manhole covers were “displaced” and that once on the scene firefighters did see “smoke emitting from underground.” Power was shut down to the area.
“It did create an uncomfortable environment for residents as it was necessary for some of them to be displaced… We evacuated just for everyone’s safety,” said Cartwright, who told WYPR that fewer than 30 people were displaced and they were expected to be back in their residences by the end of the day. He reports that the Maryland Transit Authority moved residents in an emergency shuttle bus.
Baltimore city’s emergency department reported that around one in the morning on Friday, emergency communication services and 911 dispatch were interrupted– first responders used an alternative emergency radio service as a back-up. Emergency communications have been restored.
Some city buildings are operating on back-up power supplies and the Baltimore City’s Elijah E. Cummings and Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. courthouses are closed due to the power outage. Mercy Hospital remains largely unaffected although city officials did say that some hospital garages and buildings did experience outages.
The cause of the fire is currently unknown.
This story will be updated.
