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Fire Causes Power Outages In Poughkeepsie Central Business District.

This story has been updated.

An underground manhole fire on Catherine Street is causing power outages throughout the downtown area of the City of Poughkeepsie.

An underground manhole fire on Catherine Street is causing power outages throughout the downtown area of the City of Poughkeepsie.

Photo Credit: City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department/Facebook
An underground fire on Catherine Street is causing power outages throughout the downtown are of the  City of Poughkeepsie.

An underground fire on Catherine Street is causing power outages throughout the downtown are of the City of Poughkeepsie.

Photo Credit: Google maps

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- An underground fire on Catherine Street in the City of Poughkeepsie is causing power outages throughout the central business district, according to the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department.

Approximately 830 customers (buildings, homes, accounts) are interrupted as a result of the outage, John Maserjian of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. told Daily Voice.

The area includes but is not limited to Church Street from Columbus Drive to Academy Street and Mill Street from Civic Center Plaza to N. Hamilton Street, as well as the intersections between the two East/West corridors. The Main St corridor is also affected by the outages, police said.

Central Hudson crews are onsite investigating the cause of the outage. Central Hudson is planning to reroute power to restore service to the majority of affected customers, which should be completed by mid-afternoon, Maserjian said. Crews will continue to make final repairs throughout the afternoon and possibly into the evening, according to Maserjian.

"We have not as yet determined the cause, however it could be a short circuit in a power cable as a result of environmental conditions," according to Maserjian, who cited road salts or runoff, or other factors as possible causes. "We should have more information once crews have more thoroughly assessed the situation."

The Dutchess County Office Building, Dutchess County Courthouse, District Attorney Office and Board of Elections are currently affected by the outage. All streets remain open except for a small section of Catherine Street, police said.

The police department, as well as the Department of Public Works, is in the process of identifying intersections and/or placing temporary stop signs, barricades and flares alerting motorists of traffic signal outages, police said.

The public is being asked to use extreme caution when entering intersections affected by the outages.

Check back to Daily Voice for updates.

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