Underground fires in Dover blow manhole covers off

By Ray Brewer

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    DOVER, New Hampshire (WMUR) — Firefighters in Dover are investigating the cause of underground fires that set off explosions late Sunday night.

The call came in just before midnight, reporting a structure fire at 10 Second St. in Dover. When firefighters arrived, they found the fire in an alley between First and Second streets.

It turned out to be an electrical fire, which was difficult to contain.

“A couple of underground fires caused explosions, which blew the manhole covers off, and fire was showing from there,” said Fire Chief Michael McShane.

The fire chief said there were four apartments in the adjacent building, two of which were occupied and evacuated. One property owner said a tenant thought the loud bangs he heard was someone throwing rocks at his window, so he called the police.

In order to fight the fire, McShane said the crew shut off the electricity feeding it, but despite their efforts, some power was still getting through.

“At that point, we made the call to shut down a portion of the downtown, because it was causing basement fires in two of the restaurants,” McShane said.

The fires were contained, but hours later, there was still smoke coming from underground.

“The insulation around some of the wires is still smoldering, so just the heat that type of fire generates, it’s going to take quite a while for that to cool down,” McShane said.

The intense heat caused electric meters to melt onto a charred wall of a building.

McShane said it’s unclear when the restaurants will reopen and tenants will be able to return. He said that will depend a lot on when power is restored.

No one was hurt in the fire or explosions.

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