BALTIMORE — At the corner of East Baltimore and South streets, the sounds of heavy machinery mix in with the usual busy traffic as crews continued to repair cables damaged from an underground fire.
"It was kind of scary. I heard like a couple of explosions from under the ground," Kishor Chhetri, an employee at the America Wine and Spirit store, told WMAR-2 News.
Chhetri was working when it began Saturday afternoon.
Workers speak on impacts to their employers after underground fire in downtown Baltimore Saturday
"Our business was impacted, you know, because of the street was blocked and the customers couldn't reach us and the delivery also, you know, get delayed and canceled," he said.
Though the streets were partially re-opened on Monday morning, it wasn't in time for Billy Shea's start to the day as co-owner of Two Guys City Cafe.
"Couldn't get down to any of the roads, so I had to go all the way around and then go into the parking garage and unload everything and then I came in and found out that our food delivery didn't show up," he said. "I really just had to go to the grocery store because we start fresh every week with all of our food in-house."
The impact of this underground fire has mainly been felt only on the roads, something businesses are grateful for.
Baltimore DOT reports the closures are expected to last through Tuesday afternoon and possibly later into the evening.
"My main concern is whether or not the people will be able to get into the building throughout the day. Other than that, the orders and all, we'll work around it. We'll make sure that that that we're able to get all of our product in," Shea said.
Multiple underground fires have been reported in the city including three along North Charles street.
The latest one in September resulted in an explosion that caused evacuations, power shutdowns and extensive property damage that took months to recover from.
"Seeing what we're seeing thus far, I would not be surprised if we had another fire sometime soon in the next couple of months," District 4 Councilman and public safety chairman Mark Conway said at a hearing a month after that fire.
A BGE spokesperson responded to an email request about the cause of the fire after deadline provided on Monday, telling WMAR-2 News that it is believed that none of BGE's facilities were the source of the fires.
Full statement from BGE below:
"As a major user of the City’s conduit system, BGE has worked with City officials to support efforts to determine the cause of previous conduit system fires. While those efforts are still ongoing, BGE’s assessment to date indicates that its facilities were not the source of the fires. All of these events took place in older sections of the conduit system, and we believe the age and condition of the conduit system may be a contributing factor. BGE’s primary focus remains on its operations and the continued safety and reliability of its electric facilities."
BGE also believes that based on initial information, its facilities were also not the source of Saturday's fire.
The cause of this latest fire still remains under investigation.
