Hartford

Underground Fire Closed Streets in Hartford Thursday

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An underground electrical fire closed streets in Hartford Thursday and caused some anxious moments for residents who heard what sounded like an explosion. Crews remain at the scene and are expected to be there through much of the day.  

The incident happened at Farmington Avenue and Laurel Street Thursday afternoon and crews are still there, according to the Hartford Fire Department.

Fire officials believe there was a 6” water main break, which caused the roads to spall, and the leak started the fire.

MDC said there was a leak rather than a water main break.

Fire officials said it did not get onto Eversource primary lines but did get onto their secondary lines.

Power remains out for Dishes Diner, which is vacant, and Dunkin’ and generators were bought in for those locations, according to the fire department.

Crews are expected to be there working for the remainder of the day, primarily making some switches to the power grid.

If there are power outages affecting surrounding structures, more generators will be brought in.

Laurel Street, between Homestead and Farmington Avenue, and Case Street remain closed to through traffic.

Harford police are directing traffic.

Firefighters Thursday described the blaze as significant.

NBC Connecticut

Connecticut Natural Gas said they're investigating. They said no gas was involved in the incident and the fire wasn't caused by CNG infrastructure.

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