June 18 (Reuters) - Utility firm Hawaiian Electric

said on Tuesday it was working to restore power in

downtown Honolulu, where a fire damaged underground cables in

several locations.

The power outage, which occurred shortly before 9 p.m. local

time on Monday, is the second one in the downtown area in less

than a week.

The energy firm said about 3,000 customers are currently

without electricity.

Most office buildings, including government offices and

court houses, have power, the company said, adding the outage

was not as widespread as the one it reported last week.

Hawaiian Electric said it hopes that power will be restored

to most areas by early afternoon.

The company, which provides power to most of Hawaii, did not

immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the

cause of the fire.