Underground Transformer Fire Sparks Power Outages Downtown

The Chattanooga Fire Department responded to an explosion from an underground transformer at Broad Street and Aquarium Way Tuesday night, causing power outages downtown. Firefighters were called to the 200 block of Broad Street at 8:17 PM. Flames and sparks were coming out of the ground through grates. Because it was electrical in nature, firefighters used several dry chemical extinguishers to suppress the fire until the power was cut to the transformers. Once power was cut, more dry chemical extinguishers were used to fully extinguish the fire. Then water was used to cool everything down so that EPB could assess the damage. As a result of this incident, power was cut to a significant area around where this occurred. There was no other damage or injuries. This impacted traffic lights so the public was asked to avoid the area if possible. EPB had to wait for the transformer to cool off to start working on it. Crews worked as quickly as possible to address this matter, working through the night and into Wednesday morning to restore power.

• Parts of downtown Chattanooga in the blocks surrounding Broad Street and Aquarium Way are without power and fiber optic services following a fire in an underground electrical vault that was first reported after 8 pm on Tuesday.
• The Fire Department reports that the fire has been extinguished, but initial assessments indicate that the vault may not be cool enough to allow EPB to begin repair work on the damaged vault until tomorrow morning (Wednesday, June 15).
• EPB crews are on the scene to ensure safety. They have already begun work at undamaged electrical vaults that will contribute to more rapid restoration once the damaged vault is accessible.
• About 500 customers are impacted by the outages. EPB is notifying these customers and will provide them with more information as repairs progress.
• EPB does not currently have any information about the cause of the fire.

Image