SMOKED OUT
Electrical fire sends lawmakers home; State House will be closed today
An electrical fire in the basement of the State House yesterday afternoon forced an evacuation of the building and kept it closed for the rest of the day and again today because of high carbon monoxide levels.
Lawmakers, staffers, and members of the public swarmed out of the building just after 2 p.m. when fire alarms started blaring for the second time in the day. But an apparent false alarm earlier was replaced with a real fire sparked by burning high voltage wires that fed a transformer, Boston Fire Department Commissioner Paul Burke told reporters.
“The transformer did not catch on fire but the feeds to it did so we had NSTAR come. It was quite a lengthy process to get (firefighters) down in the manholes,” Burke said. “They have to go down and isolate the transformer by shutting off the power so that’s what’s taking so long.”
Any hopes to get back into the State House to grab personal belongings like keys, wallets, and phones at one point seemed dashed. Lawmakers and staff members huddled along Bowdoin, Derne, and Hancock Streets waiting to see if they could get in — which they eventually did later in the day.
Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr was one of them. The Gloucester Republican was a long way from home and trying to figure out a ride back.
“I’m hoping maybe there might be a news van headed in that direction that can help me out,” he said. “It’s important to note that there were things happening in the building today, there were public hearings occurring. There were conference committees that presumably are meeting. So this was not a quiet day. But everyone managed to get outside.”
State House Superintendent Tammy Kraus said the building was evacuated at 2:12 p.m. when the electrical fire was discovered in the basement. Kraus said the State House would remain closed Tuesday “due to ongoing concerns regarding elevated carbon monoxide levels.”
It was later decided the State House will remain closed today.
“I would be hopeful that it would,” Burke said.
The State House was bustling yesterday.
House Democrats were in the middle of holding a private meeting when the fire alarm in the building was set off for the first time. Rep. Ruth Balser said as soon as the alarm stopped ringing, lawmakers returned to finish the meeting.
She was across the street in a different building when the emergency turned out to be real the second time around.
“I came out and found out I couldn’t go back,” she said.
Rep. Russell Holmes said he thought the second alarm was another “false alarm.”
“I had to be told to come leave the building because none of us thought it was for real,” he told the Herald. “I was gonna do what I’ve done the last 13 years, kind of hang out until the alarm stopped.”
Holmes said he has never seen a fire inside the State House.
Tarr has.
“I was actually in the building back in the days of Senate President (William) Bulger when his Christmas tree caught on fire during a late-night session,” Tarr said. “And it was a very interesting kind of thing to see the building have to be evacuated.”
Parts of the State House basement house Massachusetts artifacts like old battle flags. Burke said none of the artifacts were damaged.
“These transformers are in vaults. I mean, really secure vaults. So it wasn’t the transformer otherwise we wouldn’t have the smoke,” he said. “It was the line that was going to the transformer and that was in an open hallway.”
Gov. Maura Healey was seen walking out of the building shortly after the alarms went off. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll also left the building safely.
Judiciary Committee CoChair Rep. Michael Day was in the middle of a hearing when the fire alarm started to go off.
“We heard the fire alarm and I told everyone to vacate,” he told the Herald outside the State House. “Walked out orderly. That was it.”
As firefighters worked at the intersection of Derne and Hancock Streets, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio was handing out water bottles and organizing a successful effort for people to get back into the building to retrieve stranded belongings.