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1 Burned In Underground Explosion, Fire

DENVER (CBS4)- An explosion and underground fire shut down some roads in downtown Denver on Friday afternoon. The fire happened underneath 17th Street from Lawrence to Champa.

17th Arapahoe Fire 3 (neitro) copy
(credit: CBS)

An electrical fire that ran underneath 17th Street left one person burned. Traffic was blocked from 16th to 18th Streets from Lawrence to Champa during the investigation and cleanup.

17th Arapahoe Fire 1 (Denver Fire tweet) copy
(credit: CBS)

Traffic lights were out at 17th and Arapahoe.

A manhole cover was blown off during the explosion. Xcel Energy crews were at the site investigating what happened leading up to the blast.

Denver Fire Capt. Greg Pixley said the person burned was a construction worker who appears to have been using a jackhammer and struck a secondary electrical power line.

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