An underground electrical fire is causing power outages in Hartford on Wednesday morning and it is impacting Hartford Hospital.
Fire officials said there was an underground electrical vault fire on Elm Street. The fire has caused a power outage.
The power outage was impacting around 3,000 and Hartford Hospital is on backup power. The surrounding area including the area south of Elm Street is also believed to be impacted.
Eversource has isolated the electrical vault. Crews were able to make entry and have extinguished all visible fire with dry chemical extinguishers.
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As of 8 a.m., Eversource is reporting around 1,000 power outages in Hartford.
Officials from Hartford Healthcare said Eversource reported an explosion and fire in a manhole on Elm Street in Hartford around 4 a.m., which meant power had to be shut down for most of the capital region, including both feeders to Hartford Hospital, so the hospital is on generator power.
“While most essential clinical functions are running, there are limitations like non-functioning elevators, garage gates, and public spaces,” Hartford Healthcare said in a statement.
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They said hospital operations are operating normally and the care to our patients is not affected.
If the power outage impacts surgeries that are scheduled, patients will be contacted.
Crews from Eversource will be working in the area. It's unclear how long the work will take.
There is no estimate for the duration of the power outage at this time.
