The Clerk for the Baltimore City Circuit Court is demanding more information about underground fires that disrupted numerous services downtown last week.
Circuit Court Clerk Xavier Conaway is asking the Public Service Commission to open an independent investigation into the fire that blazed beneath Charles Street for days.
That fire damaged businesses, caused power and internet outages and forced the Elijah E. Cummings and Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. courthouses, along with the Juvenile Justice Center, to close for an entire day.
“All the trials had to be delayed, the backlog of cases. Detention times had to be prolonged, and it just affected the public's access to justice,” explained Conaway, sharing that it is the third time this year that underground fires have caused full or partial closures at the downtown courthouses.
Conaway said that delayed essential court proceedings and affects hundreds of residents including witnesses, jurors and those waiting for childcare custody decisions.
The extra expenses for law enforcement, correctional facilities and legal representatives put additional strain on the taxpayers, said the clerk.
The Baltimore City Fire department has not shared an official reason as to why the same general area — between the 200 and 400 blocks of North Charles street — has had three underground fires this year.
"Like other users of the conduit system, BGE has major assets within the Baltimore City conduit system and is therefore committed to supporting any effort to identify the root cause of the recent manhole fires affecting Baltimore City’s conduit system," said Stephanie Weaver, a spokesperson for Baltimore Gas and Electric who wrote to WYRP in an emailed statement. "We believe that any investigation should involve all users of the conduit system, including BGE, to ensure a comprehensive understanding and investigation of possible causes and solutions."
“I think it warrants an independent and comprehensive investigation from the Public Service Commission of Maryland, because I really want us to figure out a way to move forward and give the public assurance that we're actually going to take this seriously,” said Conaway.
WYPR has reached out to the Maryland Public Service Commission for comment.
An earlier version of this story also stated that Baltimore Gas and Electric has not shared information as to why the particular area of Charles Street has had so many recent fires. Investigations and updates are mainly handled by the Baltimore City Fire Department.