Baltimore Engages Engineering Firm to Investigate Underground Fires

Baltimore city leaders have taken proactive measures to address the recent spate of underground fires by hiring the engineering firm RTI. This decision follows a meeting involving multiple agencies to discuss the underlying causes of these incidents and how to enhance public safety.

The most recent fire occurred on June 28 at the intersection of Baltimore Street and Guilford Avenue, resulting in significant steam damage to underground systems, as reported by Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE).

City Council President Zeke Cohen acknowledged the challenges posed by aging infrastructure, stating, "We know that we have aging infrastructure. We also know that we have an obligation to make sure the conduit, the pipes, the underground, does not explode."

Deputy Mayor of Operations Khalil Zaied emphasized the city's commitment to reducing the likelihood of such incidents, noting, "I'm not going to say it's never going to happen again, but we are reducing the percentage that an incident like this one will happen."

On Tuesday, the Baltimore Public Safety Committee convened various stakeholders, including representatives from the Baltimore City Fire Department, Department of Public Works, and BGE, to tackle the growing infrastructure issues that have led to these fires. Councilmember Phylicia Porter remarked, "We have a growing infrastructure issue in the city of Baltimore. So, this is just step one of how we can address that growing infrastructure issue."

Fire Chief James Wallace provided insights into the nature of the fires, indicating that the flames were primarily emanating from wiring cables. BGE officials acknowledged the need for potential upgrades to the system, aligning with a 2023 settlement agreement that mandates BGE to invest over $120 million in the conduit system over the next four years.

Tom Rafferty, director of BGE's Regional Electric Operations, mentioned that the company is implementing monitoring equipment to detect temperature spikes in transformers in the aftermath of the fires. He speculated that the combination of aging infrastructure and environmental factors might contribute to these incidents, stating, "So you look at the aging infrastructure of the terracotta and the Orangeburg facilities, and you look at that with the combination of the heat, sometimes that conduit can collapse, cause damage to the insulation."

In the past 18 months, Baltimore has experienced three underground fires in the downtown area, with the previous incidents occurring along North Charles Street, which caused extensive damage to local businesses. Notably, there was also an underground fire at the same intersection of Baltimore Street and Guilford Avenue two years ago.

Reported by HarborBeat based on CBS News (source).