Springs Utilities releases cause of Sept. fire and outage
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) released its findings on the September 2023 downtown power outage and underground fire.
On Monday, September 11, 2023, the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) received a report just before 2:30 a.m. about a fire coming from a manhole in the area of 101 East Kiowa Street. When crews arrived, CSFD found fire coming out of multiple utility holes about 10 feet in the air.
CSFD said crews knocked down the fire around 3:15 a.m., but heavy smoke lingered. Power was out for several days, and E. Kiowa St. was closed for the long term while crews made repairs.
“I’d like to thank our first responders for their quick response to the fire. Without their actions, the damage could have been far worse,” said Colorado Springs Utilities Chief Executive Officer Travas Deal. “I’d also like to thank customers and business owners in the area for their patience. We understand this process was extremely difficult for many of them, especially the small business owners who were impacted for several days.”
On Friday, March 8, CSU released its findings on the cause of the fire, writing the cause was likely due to a private contractor damaging underground electric cables on E. Kiowa St. while using a core drill without following state-mandated locate protocols.
According to Springs Utilities, a core drill is truck-mounted and typically used to install underground pipe or wire.
Colorado Springs Utilities said three potential points of origin were identified, and one site was particularly noteworthy due to extensive damage found under a plywood patch and evidence of core drilling. They believe this was the most likely origin of the fire. CSU also confirmed that the underground transformer in the affected vault was not the cause after testing and determining that it was functioning correctly.
According to Springs Utilities, even minor damage, such as a nick in the cable insulation, can cause the type of equipment failure that would create a fire like the one in September.
Springs Utilities said it is pursuing new technology on underground cables that can isolate a damaged cable from the rest of the system. It hopes it will reduce the risk to its underground electric system.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
