EPB responds to minor explosion in front of City Hall
A small explosion and underground electrical fire in front of City Hall Tuesday afternoon added some excitement to an already busy Election Day in Chattanooga.
No one was injured when a few manhole covers lifted up in the minor explosion, according to Bruce Garner with the Chattanooga Fire Department. Garner said the incident was over when fire personnel arrived shortly after the explosion was called in around noon.
EPB spokesman John Pless said material wrapped around an old, underground conductor that runs under 11th and Lindsay streets in front of City Hall broke down and there was a buildup of gases that caused a minor explosion, or “flash,” to lift up the manhole lids. Smoke from the explosion carried into the municipal building, causing the smoke alarms to go off and the building to be evacuated along with the City Hall annex across the street.
For a short time, all vehicular and pedestrian traffic was blocked on 11th Street from Lindsay to Houston streets.
“It’s pretty old — a lot of these cables were put in decades ago,” Pless told reporters.
“We are just fortunate that nobody was hurt and there was no serious damage to the equipment,” he added.
One witness was parking her car near warehouse row and saw the aftermath of the fire.
“I turned right to park and heard a loud noise, not huge, but a loud noise,” Terri Tucker said. “And I saw this yellow smoke behind me as I looked in the mirror.”
According to EPB, the power is on and no customers have had any disruptions from the fire because it was a secondary conductor. Over the next few hours, EPB employees will replace the secondary conductor.
“Thanks to the Chattanooga Police Department and Chattanooga Fire Department for getting here quickly and making sure everybody was safe and ensuring that there wasn’t a situation that would put anyone in danger,” Pless said.