INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (March 16, 2015)-- The Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) says a blown transformer may have caused an underground fire along Massachusetts Avenue Monday night.
Fire shot up through vents on Mass. Ave. around 8:40 p.m., followed by smoke.
Indianapolis Power and Light (IPL) believes the incident occurred in an underground vault which houses transformers.
A couple walking their dog tells FOX59 that the fire burnt the whiskers off of their pet.
IPL provided the following statement to FOX59:
At 8:42 PM IPL received a report of a possible underground network event in the 300 block of Massachusetts Avenue. IPL crews are on-scene and have reported that a primary oil chamber failed. The chamber is located within a vault. There was a report of a flash and loud bang when the event occurred. The area has been secured and IPL crews will continue to investigate the reason for the failure.
Portion of Mass Ave closed. IFD says preliminary investigation indications underground transformer blew pic.twitter.com/VORDp7ZDv8
— Traffic Authority (@indy_traffic) March 17, 2015
Couple with dog says they were walking by when underground transformer blew on Mass Ave. Whiskers on dog burnt off pic.twitter.com/7xFf6ElE5z
— FOX59 News (@FOX59) March 17, 2015
NOW: En route to believed underground transformer explosion on Mass Ave. These folks getting checked out. 10P @FOX59 pic.twitter.com/f4joW3N1Kf
— Kendall Downing (@kendall_downing) March 17, 2015
Area on Mass Ave where flames shot up. Underground transformer blew @FOX59 pic.twitter.com/4Etk55yBlA
— Kendall Downing (@kendall_downing) March 17, 2015
A large @IPLPower truck here now. I'm told they have an underground crew that will go down and investigate @FOX59 pic.twitter.com/orxxg6IK0F
— Kendall Downing (@kendall_downing) March 17, 2015
