DCFD Video: “Major underground transformer fire 18th & L St NW” Streets Closed, Office Buildings Without Power

Major underground transformer fire 18th & L St NW threatening office building. Checking adjacent structures. pic.twitter.com/9mPSrbpWYF

— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) August 16, 2016

via DC Fire and EMS

DC Fire and EMS reported last night:

“Major underground transformer fire 18th & L St NW threatening office building. Checking adjacent structures.”

“The transformer vault fire on L St. was extinguished and left with Pepco at approximately 2:30 AM. Our units have left scene.”

Alert DC reported as of 7:30am:

“MPD reports the intersection of 18th St NW and L St NW remains closed at this time. Updates will follow.”

A reader passes on from a nearby office building:

“Due to a PEPCO transformer fire in the K Street neighborhood, the 1801K Street building is out of power, and the property manager has closed the building until power can be restored. This outage has also resulted in lost power to the 1825 I Street part of the International Square building….

The 1850 K Street tower and the 1875 I Street towers of International Square remain open, but parking is limited and only available from the K Street entrance.

The landlords of the 1801 K Street and 1825 I Street buildings have informed us that employees should prepare for a multiple-day event. Employees should not enter the building to obtain computers and other belongings under any circumstance.”

another reader unaware of the fire notes:

“What’s up in the 1800 block of I st NW? Starbucks and pret are closed with no lights–a lot of people going hungry this morning!”

Update from the Golden Triangle BID:

“More than 14 large downtown office buildings have been affected by power outages resulting from last night’s transformer fire at 18th and L Streets NW, according to the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID). This totals more than 4.5 million square feet of office and retail space, and affects more than 12,000 workers. Pepco has been on the scene all day.

“Many of the building managers put their emergency plans into action and notified their tenants early this morning, mitigating the impact,” says Golden Triangle BID Executive Director Leona Agouridis. “Building personnel have been working around the clock to ensure that office buildings are ready to open as soon power is restored. In addition, many of the affected tenants have also put their continuity of operations plans into action.”

The Golden Triangle BID wants to thank Pepco, the DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (DCFEMS), the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (DCHSEMA), and the building management staff for all the work they have been doing to help get the neighborhood back to business.”