By Matt Hubbard
Baltimore Sun
BALTIMORE — An underground fire Sunday morning in downtown Baltimore left thousands without power, closed roads and businesses, damaged a bookstore and injured a firefighter.
It was the third underground fire within a couple of blocks of North Charles Street this year.
Shortly after 5 a.m. , the Baltimore City Fire Department responded to the 300 block of North Charles Street for reports of an underground fire with multiple maintenance holes emitting smoke and a possible maintenance hole explosion, according to the Baltimore Department of Emergency Services .
When fire crews arrived, they observed smoke coming from numerous maintenance holes releasing and one emitting flames, officials said. The fire was extinguished around 9 a.m., the fire department said on the X social media site.
Crews assessing the scene later pieced together fragments of an exploded maintenance hole cover at the intersection of North Charles and East Pleasant streets. Inside the holes under the street, tangles of electrical wires and other infrastructure were scorched by the fire.
Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. shut off power across several downtown blocks so Baltimore City firefighters could safely extinguish the blaze, the cause of which is still under investigation, according to city fire officials.
One firefighter was injured and transported for treatment, Baltimore Police spokesperson Freddie Talbert said, and the fire’s threat to the public has been mitigated. Talbert did not offer any details about how the firefighter was injured or their condition.
The 300 blocks of North Charles and St. Paul streets will be shut down “for a prolonged period of time,” Talbert said.
North Charles Street is closed from Lexington Street to Mulberry Street , and Saratoga Street is shut down from St. Paul Street to Sharp Street , Talbert said Sunday afternoon.
According to BGE, about 2,200 customers were without power in the area as of 6 p.m. , according to BGE’s outage map. The outages affect the area of Lexington, Mulberry, Saratoga, Calvert and Sharp streets.
All of the traffic lights spanning from City Hall to Charles Plaza and the Washington Monument also were out into the afternoon Sunday, with some cars blowing through intersections. Closed road were blocked by traffic cones, as well as vehicles from Baltimore Police , the Department of Public Works and the Maryland Department of Transportation.
In and around Charles Plaza , the majority of businesses, such as Streets Market & Cafe and the Charles Street 7-Eleven, were dark much of the day. Foot traffic was light in the normally busy area, with some people walking in the middle of the street. BGE crews were posted along the side of the road.
Debris and singed books from Viva Books littered the sidewalk of North Charles Street as crews continued to operate within the interior of two charred maintenance holes in the street. The floor of the bookseller was ripped open and damaged by fire.
Viva Stowell , who owns the shop, said she didn’t want to talk as she stood outside looking at the damage.
BGE is assessing the fire’s impact on underground electric infrastructure to carry out necessary repairs, the company said in a statement.
The 300 block of North Charles Street is no stranger to underground fires, as crews responded to a similar blaze, which included an explosion, in late January.
BGE confirmed that a January incident that occurred outside the Rod Dee Thai restaurant on that block resulted from an electrical fire, which did not cause injuries. The fire left 1,700 customers without power for a time and led to road closures and conditions similar to Sunday’s fire.
In June, crews responded to the area again for a high-voltage fire in the 200 block of North Charles Street . Similarly, power needed to be shut down in the area by BGE, and crews worked to address the underground electrical infrastructure. A building was evacuated, and that fire did not result in any injuries.
When asked why underground fires in the area continue to occur and what is being done to prevent them, a BGE spokesperson said the company is “focused on restoring customers who are currently out of service.”
Last week, another Sunday fire downtown in a handful of businesses and a residence two blocks from Camden Yards drew a response of over 240 personnel from numerous agencies. No injuries were reported.
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