Areas Evacuated During 'Manhole Incident' In Mount Vernon Tuesday

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A "manhole incident" gave those in Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood a scare Tuesday.

The incident happened just after noon at North Charles and E. Hamilton streets, where parts of the neighborhood were evacuated.

"They said, 'Get out of the building, we smell gas,' and they didn't have to say it twice." said Marc Sklar, Gian Marco Menswear.

Windows were blown out.

"It felt like the ground shaking, kind of like an earthquake. I mean, it sounded like a bomb went off," said Ryn Dorsey.

"We couldn't feel anything. We just heard a really loud kind of bang." Sklar said.

Two manholes went flying.

"One right out the back door of Tio Pepe's. And one here on Lovegrove," Dorsey said.

From Chopper 13, you could see a building under construction in the area.

According to BGE there are no reported injuries.

BGE officials said it was not a gas explosion, and neighbors suspect a transformer blew.

"The incident appears to be a quick pressure release," BGE officials said. "In short, damage to BGE's underground electric cables can cause gases to build up in confined spaces, and sometimes the pressure causes the gases to release through manholes,"

They also said this was not a natural gas incident, and not caused by natural gas from a gas line.

But earlier, people in the area were concerned by sound.

An eyewitness tweeted photos with the caption, "Gas explosion on Hamilton Street. Blow out windows. Streets blocked."

Crews were on the scene investigating and making repairs. Fewer than 10 customers had their electric service disrupted, a BGE official said.

They added their crews are assisting customers with boarding up their windows and cleaning up debris.

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• Baltimore
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