A utility employee is dead and another sustained burns after a reported explosion in an underground electrical vault in downtown Phoenix. The Phoenix Fire Department responded to the area of 1st Avenue and Washington Street around 10:30 p.m. Sunday for an underground electrical vault fire. When crews arrived, they found a large amount of fire coming from the manhole operated by Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest utility company. "APS notified our Alarm Room that they had some sort of an explosion in an underground electrical vault," Phoenix Fire stated. According to APS, they had two workers down in the vault when the fire occurred. One of the workers escaped and suffered burn injuries to his hands and face. He was taken in stable condition to the Maricopa Medical Burn Center. Firefighters worked with APS to extinguish the fire. Crews had to wait for APS to notify them that the electrical vault was de-energized. Once firefighters extinguished the fire, they were able to confirm another worker had died. “We are deeply saddened to report that an APS employee died, and another was injured, in an accident on Sunday night while they were performing planned maintenance,” APS said in a statement Monday morning. The Phoenix Police Department identified the deceased worker as Ricardo Castillo, 41. According to reports, he was a member of Grace Walk Church near 75th Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road. He was expected to turn 42 this week. APS said the underground equipment serves downtown facilities and venues. Some of those are without power Monday until the area can be deemed safe and repairs can be completed. Locations without power in downtown Phoenix include Wells Fargo, the Phoenix Municipal Building, the Maricopa County Administration Building and the Phoenix Civic Plaza South. Other buildings are operating with partial power, including the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown. Power was cut to the main Maricopa County administration building, and about 1,000 workers had to either take the day off or work from home, county spokesman Fields Moseley said. All trials and hearings at the Superior Court complex next door were cancelled because nearby buildings were without power, court spokesman Bryan Bouchard said. Valley Metro was rerouting light rail trains and riders were experiencing delays of up to a half-hour.

Mr. Bouchard said people with hearings scheduled Tuesday should report to their hearings as the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County will be open. People whose hearings were vacated for Monday should contact their attorneys for new dates, unless they’ve been otherwise directed. Self-represented litigants without attorneys should contact the office from which they received their hearing schedule, unless otherwise already directed.

APS said there was the potential for more outages downtown throughout the day. “Our focus is on the safety of those actively working the scene, the well-being of these employees’ co-workers and families and restoring power safely and quickly once repairs can begin,” APS stated. APS said it can't provide an estimated time to have the power back on until more is known at the scene. APS, Phoenix Police and Fire, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, are working on the investigation. Phoenix police said the death was ruled accidental. The Associated Press contributed to this report. https://www.facebook.com/apsfyi/photos/a.264717250322025/2185455088248222/?type=3&theater https://twitter.com/apsFYI/status/1145685646809264129