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Manholes exploded – with fire – in terrifying incidents that sent pedestrians running in a Brooklyn neighborhood.
A video shared on the safety network app Citizen showed cars driving on a street in the Bushwick neighbourhood shortly before 5.30pm on Thursday when a column of flames shot up from a manhole.
In the clip, a bright orange plume was seen from a distance and it cut out as the person recording it appeared to duck for cover.
The burst happened as a firefighter moved a barrier on Central Avenue between Myrtle Avenue and Stockholm Street. The firefighter was on site because the New York City Fire Department was investigating reports of higher than normal levels of carbon monoxide, WABC reported.
No one was injured from the sudden eruption.
Con Edison, which supplies energy in New York City, responded to the scene.
However, two hours later, another manhole less a mile away spewed fire, at Lewis Avenue and Pulaski Street.
A video posted to the Citizen app showed flames coming from inside the manhole and spreading across the street and encroaching on businesses and vehicles.
About 60 firefighters and first responders rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze before it hurt anyone or caused any property damage.
It happened a week after two other manhole fires occurred on Remsen Avenue in Brooklyn’s East Flatbush neighbourhood and knocked out power to five buildings and caused a small gas leak that forced evacuations, according to WABC. Con Edison said it was caused by an electrical fire.
It happened three months after a series of manhole explosions – without fire – just missed hitting a grandmother and her two grandchildren who were walking on a sidewalk after an Easter egg hunt in Poughkeepsie, which is about 80 miles north of Manhattan.
New York City has roughly 350,000 manholes across its five boroughs that cover a network of underground cables and gas lines. The cables are prone to overheating from air conditioner use in the summer and can cause the manhole explosions.
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