TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – An underground electrical fire caused road closures in downtown Tallahassee Tuesday morning, according to the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD).
The incident transpired around 5:15 a.m. after the Tallahassee Fire Department (TFD) responded to a fire alarm at the Leon County Courthouse, city officials wrote in a press release.
Crews then arrived on scene and found “several fires in the roadways and visible damage that caused traffic impacts near Monroe Street, Apalachee Parkway and Calhoun Street,” according to the press release.
Officials also said that while there were early reports of a potential gas leak, “which was quickly ruled out by TFD,” that incident was determined to have been related to the underground electrical fire.
As of Tuesday morning, the exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to officials.
However, the press release stated that the bulk of the impacts took place on Monroe Street, between Apalachee Parkway and Jefferson Street “in the area of a paving project being facilitated by the Florida Department of Transportation.”
In a social media post around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, TPD shared images of damage that the fire caused to the roads east of the Capitol complex.
An underground electrical fire leads to road closures(TPD)
In that same post, police also said road closures in that area are expected to remain throughout the day, including Monroe Street between Jefferson Street and Apalachee Parkway.
Adjacent roads are also impacted, the police department said.
Police urged drivers to avoid the area and expect traffic delays.
The Leon County Sheriff’s Office also listed current road closure perimeters as of Tuesday morning, as deputies assist the police department and TFD with the “fire-related incident.”
According to LCSO, the following roads are closed:
South: S. Monroe/FAMU WayWest: Gaines St/S. AdamsEast: Apalachee Pkwy/Franklin BlvdNorth: Calhoun and N. Monroe St/ College Ave
Northbound lanes of Monroe Street are expected to reopen by early afternoon, city officials said.
TPD said crews will perform a planned electric service outage in the downtown area to safely make repairs. The outage will impact traffic signals and buildings in the area.
As a result of the incident, LCSO said visitation at the Leon County Detention Facility is temporarily closed until further notice “due to infrastructure impacts.” The sheriff’s office’s main line and detention facility phone lines are currently unavailable, per LCSO.
The Leon County Clerk of Courts also announced in a social media post that the courthouse and Leon County annex are closed.
Furthermore, the Leon County Property Appraiser said its office will remain closed Tuesday due to the incident.
We will continue to give updates as this story develops.
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