Electrical fire shuts down State House

The State House was evacuated Tuesday afternoon and will stay closed for the rest of the day due to elevated carbon monoxide levels caused by an electrical fire that was confined to a transformer room in building's sub-basement.

The fire was discovered at around 2:12 p.m., according to State Police, who confirmed there were no injuries. On Twitter, the Boston Fire Department said the "report of a transformer fire in the basement" drew a two-alarm response.

"The Boston Fire Department is on scene and has determined that the fire was confined to the basement. Due to ongoing concerns regarding elevated carbon monoxide levels, however, the State House will remain closed for the remainder of the day. Bowdoin, Beacon, Hancock and Dern streets are also currently closed to the public," Tammy Kraus, superintendent of the State House, said in a statement.

Boston Fire Department spokesperson Brian Alkins said around 3:10 p.m. that firefighters were standing by waiting for Eversource to access the transformer. State Police also reported that fire officials were waiting on utility officials to cut power "before they make entry to extinguish the fire" and reported "there are smoke conditions in other parts of the building."

Later in the afternoon, State Police spokesman David Procopio reported that "the room where the fire occurred is being vented in order to allow NSTAR to localize and shut off the feed that is believed to have caused the fire."