Transformer issue sparked Cincinnati underground explosion, Duke Energy says
Cause of blast unknown
UPDATED 7:25 PM EDT Jul 12, 2016
CINCINNATI, OHIO —Authorities say an overnight explosion outside a downtown building was the result of a transformer problem.
Police responded to the William Howard Taft Center shortly after 1 a.m. The building is on East Ninth Street and houses county offices, including the prosecutor's office.
Duke Energy spokesman Lee Freedman said the blast happened under the sidewalk.
“Early this morning a piece of our equipment in downtown Cincinnati as part of our underground power-line work failed and caused a fire," he said. “Throughout this equipment failure, no one lost any power and that's due to the redundancy of the power network in downtown Cincinnati.”
The old transformer is currently being replaced.
But what went wrong in the first place? The company is investigating a variety of issues. Freedman suggested thinking of the incident like a car malfunction.
“Even on a beautiful day like today, it may not start on the first try,” he said. “It could be a battery, it could be an alternator, it could be a variety of factors. And what we'll do is we'll pull this transformer to see what went wrong.”
Above ground, the only visible signs of the explosion were burn marks on nearby grates. No one was walking along the sidewalk at the time of the explosion.
Freedman said Duke Energy officials will look into other parts of the system to prevent further issues. A new transformer should be installed within the next couple of days.