Baltimore City Incident Update on Underground Fire at 300 Block of N. Charles
Baltimore City Incident Update on Underground Fire
at 300 Block of N. Charles
BALTIMORE, MD — September 28, 2024: Early on Sunday, September 28, 2024, the Baltimore City Fire Department, Baltimore City Police Department, Baltimore City Office of Emergency Management, Baltimore City DOT, and BGE all responded to a scene in the 300 block of N. Charles Street, for reports of an underground fire, multiple manhole smoke emissions, and possible manhole explosions.
Initial assessments revealed smoke coming from multiple manholes covers and fire emitting from one manhole cover.
Power was shut down to businesses and residences to a radius around the 300 block of N. Charles Street to assist in extinguishing the fire, which could only be accomplished once power was off. The outage is affecting the downtown area in the general grid of Lexington Street. / Mulberry Street. / Saratoga Street/ Calvert Street / Sharp Street.
University of Maryland: Midtown Hospital is operating on generator power. There are also several city buildings that were impacted by the outage, with essential buildings running on emergency power. Baltimore City Residents also are among the affected by the outage.
BCFD and BGE crews are continuing to safely work together to cycle power through the impacted area. At present, threats to the public have been mitigated and crews will continue working. Progress updates will be forthcoming.
There will continue to be a number of traffic modifications due to crews operating in the 300 block of N. Charles Streets between Lexington Street and Saratoga Street.
Traffic in this vicinity will be interrupted throughout the day, likely significantly impacting downtown travel.