A fireplace burning underground in Colorado Springs knocked out energy to greater than 1,000 residents within the downtown space early Monday morning and evacuated a whole lot extra.
The decision got here in simply earlier than 2:30 a.m. Monday, reporting flames capturing out of a manhole at 101 Kiowa Avenue.
When firefighters responded to the scene, they discovered flames popping out of a number of manholes, the Colorado Springs Fireplace Division said on X, the social media platform beforehand generally known as Twitter.
In a single alleyway, the flames even blew a manhole cowl off.
Firefighters had been in a position to stop the blaze from spreading to close by buildings — together with residents, eating places, resorts and extra — and put out the main fire by 4:15 a.m., although heavy smoke remained within the space.
#ColorsdoSpringsFire heavy smoke within the space, coming from underground, no constructions concerned. Major hearth knocked down however nonetheless producing a whole lot of smoke. This incident entails a number of blocks. pic.twitter.com/igUZw3euVa
— CSFD PIO (@CSFDPIO) September 11, 2023
The fireplace, which began within the underground electrical vaults, knocked out energy to roughly 1,100 residents, Colorado Springs Utility spokespeople Tyrone Johnson mentioned.
“We’re nonetheless on the scene assessing the state of affairs and making an attempt to find out a restoration time,” Johnson mentioned.
He mentioned folks ought to keep away from Kiowa Avenue between Tejon and Nevada Avenues as crews proceed to work within the space. All darkish intersections ought to be handled as four-way stops.
Energy is at the moment out from Platte to Pikes Peak in between Tejon and Weber, the fireplace division mentioned in an update.
A number of streets within the space stay closed as hearth crews examine the reason for the blaze, and buildings nearest the fireplace had been evacuated because of the carbon monoxide threat from the realm’s heavy smoke.
Whereas all of the closures are anticipated to final a number of hours, the Kiowa and Nevada parking storage is closed indefinitely, the fireplace division mentioned in a post on X.
Please be suggested that the parking storage at Kiowa and Nevada will probably be closed indefinitely on account of this incident.
— CSFD PIO (@CSFDPIO) September 11, 2023
No accidents have been reported and the reason for the fireplace stays below investigation.
It is a growing story.
Get extra Colorado information by signing up for our each day Your Morning Dozen electronic mail e-newsletter.