MARCH 19, 2015
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
A pair of underground explosions rocked downtown
Indianapolis Thursday morning, prompting a large response from emergency crews.
Indianapolis Power & Light officials will meet with the
Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission Friday to discuss the problem as the
Circle City gets set to host the Final Four in just a few weeks.
Thursday’s explosion happened at the intersection of Capitol
Avenue and North Street. Smoke was seen pouring from manhole covers and at
least two manhole covers were sent flying. The initial explosion was reported
around 6:45 a.m. while a second followed around 7:30 a.m. IPL said two
additional manhole covers were “dislodged.”
The explosion led to power outages in downtown Indianapolis.
At one point, the Indianapolis Fire Department said power was out in a 4-6
block radius around Capitol and North.
One person was trapped in an elevator and later rescued
after calling 911. Two buildings–a dry cleaner and a building with an apartment
and an office–were evacuated. IPL officials said they had isolated the problem
by 9 a.m.
During a news conference later Thursday morning, IPL
officials said 200 customers remained without power because of “significant
damage” to the infrastructure from the explosion.
Joe Bentley, the senior vice president of customer
operations at IPL, said the problem was traced to a short circuit in 120-volt
cables under the street. He said the utility’s focus was on restoring power to
customers who were left without electricity. Bentley said one apartment
building in particular was affected by the problem. IPL planned to bring in
generators to help restore power to those areas.
Bentley said winter weather may have contributed to the
situation.
“We’ve had a lot of snow and definitely snow is a
contributor,” Bentley said. “Any contaminants that you have like salt that adds
to the water will actually enhance that short circuit from the cables to
ground. So we’ve had a lot of snow and that can contribute.”
He said Thursday’s explosions were “completely unrelated” to
a problem earlier in the week on Mass Ave.
Bentley told reporters that IPL has installed locking
manhole covers enhance safety downtown and continues to install more. He
estimated that 600-700 regular manhole covers still need to be replaced.
While Bentley said he “can’t guarantee” that manhole explosions
won’t happen during Final Four weekend, he said the system remains “very safe.”