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Crews continue repairs after underground fire in Downtown Baltimore

Portion of East Baltimore Street reopens following underground fire
Portion of East Baltimore Street reopens following underground fire 02:00

A portion of East Baltimore Street reopened Monday morning as crews continued repairs following an underground fire that broke out downtown.

Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) crews said there was extensive steam damage to the underground systems after the weekend fire.

Work is being done along Guilford and Baltimore streets, which includes venting several manholes and digging up parts of the sidewalk.

Underground fire in Baltimore

BGE said crews responded after the underground fire sparked around 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 28. The work continued through Sunday, with the goal of reopening the roads for Monday morning traffic.

"They saw smoke coming from the scene and then shortly after arrival, they saw fire coming out as well," said Baltimore Fire Deputy Chief Khalilah Yancey. "Then, it shortly dissipated, and they felt like it probably burned itself out."

When crews arrived, smoke was reportedly billowing from four manholes. BGE isolated and deenergized the area. 

"Right now, we don't have a timeframe on when this investigation will conclude, but we will have our units diligently working to find the cause of the fire," Yancey said.

The Baltimore City Office of Emergency Management advised drivers and pedestrians to avoid the area.

Baltimore businesses impacted by underground fire

Several businesses said there were fewer customers this weekend compared to most. 

One business said delivery orders, including Uber Eats and DoorDash, were mostly impacted, as well as fewer people walking in the door because of road closures.

Tiesha James, the general manager of The Empanada Lady, said the restaurant had a full staff at the time of the underground fire.

"I look up the block and there's black smoke everywhere," James said.

James reported that during the incident, the TVs inside the restaurant and the WiFi went out.

"Oh my God, do I have to get these people out of here? How can I keep my staff safe?" she said.

A busy Saturday full of excitement quickly turned into fear for James, especially when learning the fire just feet away could have been worse.

"We were told that right here, where we're standing that one of these manholes could blow off," she said. "Nothing happened, thank God."

James said they were able to conduct business as usual and kept customers away from the windows.

Concerns over Baltimore's infrastructure

Visitors told WJZ they are concerned there is a greater infrastructure problem.

"It's very terrifying," said Marshae Barrow. "You never see this happen anywhere, the street having fires and stuff like that."

"Old infrastructure in the city," added Justin Hill. "We're looking at buildings...built in the 1900s, and you can tell nothing's ever been done to them. So if nothing's ever been done to the buildings we can see, and that needs to be up to code."

At the same time, a downtown visitor struggled to retrieve her car at the scene.

"We're just kind of wandering around the city trying to find something to do until we can get in," said Indya Younger.

Younger said she's waited for her car for hours after coming downtown for a bite to eat.

"It's exhausting because the heat, for one," Younger said. "And there's no way, real way, of knowing when it's going to be over, how much longer we're going to be here."

Previous Baltimore underground fire

An underground fire on North Charles Street prompted power outages and road closures in September 2024.

Three businesses and about 2,100 BGE customers were impacted by the outage.

The fire heavily damaged Viva Books, and other businesses on the block were unable to reopen.

According to fire officials, crews found multiple fires coming from manhole covers.

Similar fires have sparked in that area of North Charles Street in January 2024 and June 2024.

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