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Smoke seen coming from manholes in downtown Indianapolis

Posted at 4:47 PM, Jun 23, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-23 16:57:06-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- Smoke was spotted coming from several manhole covers in downtown Indianapolis Friday afternoon.

The Indianapolis Fire Department and Indianapolis Power & Light were called in to see what happened.

IPL says there was no underground fire.  Crews are still trying to determine the cause.

IFD says it appears one of the manholes between Meridian and Illinois Street appears to have blown but the Swivel-loc cover kept it from flying off.

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The Swivel-loc covers are designed to pop up about two inches to relieve pressure during an underground incident -- instead of violently blowing off like traditional manhole covers.

Several manholes exploded near North Street and Capitol Avenue in March 2015 causing power outages and a major traffic jam. A fire was reported after a manhole cover popped off into the street.

In April 2015, IPL officials appeared beforethe Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to explain steps they had taken to avoid more manhole explosions.

These steps included hiring an expert on underground cables and installing Swivel-loc covers.

IPL said 1,214 locking covers were installed by November 2015.