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No Injuries In Archgrounds Blaze

Smoke from a transformer fire at the Arch filled the sky.
(KWMU staff photo)
Smoke from a transformer fire at the Arch filled the sky.

By Kevin Lavery, KWMU

St. Louis, MO – The transformer is inside a concrete vault about 100 feet from the arch. It's one of three that supplies electrical power to the trams and all lighting systems inside and below the arch. Arch superintendent Gary Easton says though the bomb and arson squad and the FBI were brought to the scene, nothing suspicious was discovered:

"And as far as we know right now it was just a malfunction in the existing equipment," Easton said. "There's no signs of any kind of sabotage or terrorism issues so, we're just assuming it's just an unfortunate occurrence that happened down there with the electrical equipment, and no reason to think otherwise."

Easton says officials hope to reopen the arch in two or three days. It's not the first blaze at the monument; a 1998 fire injured nine workers who were working on an electrical distribution panel beneath the arch.

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