An underground electrical fire in downtown Cleveland Friday morning led to road closures, power outages, and the temporary closure of the Cuyahoga County Justice Center.
The Cleveland Division of Fire responded to the scene around 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Lakeside Avenue and West 4th Street, just outside the Justice Center. Officials said the fire was triggered by a water main break, which caused a transformer failure and subsequent electrical fire.
“We had a domino effect here,” Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne explained. “A water main break took out a transformer on Lakeside, which caused a small fire, which has been taken care of by the Cleveland Fire Department.”
FirstEnergy crews quickly de-energized the affected area, resulting in power outages for about 600 downtown customers. A FirstEnergy spokesperson confirmed that once fire crews extinguished the blaze, utility workers isolated the issue and restored service. While repair work remains ongoing, no additional power disruptions are expected.
As a precaution, the county courts closed at noon, with Administrative Judge Brendan Sheehan announcing that normal operations are expected to resume on Monday. County jail operations were not impacted.
The fire also prompted temporary road closures, with West Lakeside Avenue shut down between Ontario Street and West 3rd Street. Officials advised drivers to avoid the area.
According to a Cuyahoga County news release, intermittent power outages were expected throughout the day from East 21st Street to West 9th Street, between Lakeside and Huron avenues.
The Justice Center was expected to reopen to the public by 5 p.m. Friday.