Smoke in the area of the Mitchell Courthouse in downtown Baltimore drew firefighters to the area Tuesday evening.
Baltimore Office of Emergency Operations said on Twitter that the fire involved underground electrical equipment and nearby buildings could lose power. Anyone inside the courthouse was asked to evacuate.
Baltimore City sheriff's deputies started expanding a perimeter in the area, expressing concerns about a possible explosion.
No injuries were reported because of the fire, but several hours of additional work was expected as of 8:30 p.m., Cpt. Roman Clark of the Baltimore City Fire Department said.
BGE was on scene with a special network crew to deal with a transformer volt problem which appeared to be the source of the fire, Clark said.
BREAKING: Fire at / near Mitchell Courthouse in Downtown Baltimore pic.twitter.com/W5wzhjtqfp
— Christian Schaffer (@chrisfromabc2) April 26, 2016
Looks like fire is underground.. In that video you could hear large bangs coming from it pic.twitter.com/vKU5J3lWXq
— Christian Schaffer (@chrisfromabc2) April 26, 2016
I was walking over to courthouse to check on extending the voting hours.. Saw smoke coming out on Fayette St. pic.twitter.com/IxyVSAYyRp
— Christian Schaffer (@chrisfromabc2) April 26, 2016
We keep getting pushed back.. Sheriff's dept. & fire dept. have been expressing concern about an explosion pic.twitter.com/tiWVZeLbVF
— Christian Schaffer (@chrisfromabc2) April 26, 2016
Mitchell u/d
Anyone inside the building should evacuate to a safe area.— Baltimore OEM (@BaltimoreOEM) April 26, 2016
