Electrical Explosion Rocks Kensington
A reader, Bill DesJardins, sent in these photos along with the following report about an electrical explosion on Wednesday night in Kensington: A ConEd transformer blew up Wednesday night on Avenue C, rocketing manhole covers 30 feet up into the air, after which a 45-minute pyrotechnic display attracted onlookers and FDNY response teams. ‘I thought…
A reader, Bill DesJardins, sent in these photos along with the following report about an electrical explosion on Wednesday night in Kensington:
A ConEd transformer blew up Wednesday night on Avenue C, rocketing manhole covers 30 feet up into the air, after which a 45-minute pyrotechnic display attracted onlookers and FDNY response teams. ‘I thought something was wrong because the lights were flickering on and off all morning long,’ reported local resident Roger Kaufman as he returned home at 9 PM only to find his block taped off by NYPD.
At around 8 PM the primary explosion reverberated throughout the neighborhood like a cannon. Immediately thereafter the two manhole covers which had been shot into the air returned to earth, sounding like snow plows as teach bounced off Avenue C between E. 2nd and E. 3rd Streets. Orange flames then erupted from the manholes, their tips transforming into billowing black smoke. Secondary explosions beneath the ground then forced out the orange flames, replacing them with showering of blue-white sparks. Reverberated throughout the duct system beneath Avenue C, the explosions sounded as if emanated by a gargantuan, underground trumpet.
As this scene unfolded on the street, lights in adjacent apartment buildings and private homes could be seen flickering through their respective window. Once completely out, the occupants in these structures came out into the street where they watched, along with ConEd and FDNY personnel, the transformer burn itself out. Around 11 PM, emergency crews from ConEd arrived and busied themselves in the attempt to restore power to the block. These efforts continued throughout the night, and it is reported that power was not restored until 6 AM. By late yesterday afternoon the recovery effort continued with ConEd crews still working to replace feeder cables and transformers wrecked by the previous night’s havoc. It is rumored that salt used during the recent Brooklyn blizzard precipitated the underground electrical explosion.
That sort of explains why ConEd set up on my block at 3 AM on Thurs morning.
Willowtown is so, so very jealous.
Not Moscow, Odessa. 🙂
> Do we live in New York or Moscow?
Hard to tell in that neighborhood.
Do we live in New York or Moscow?
Did the reporter physically measure the manhole covers’ trajectory? How in fact is he so certain they “[rocketed] 30 feet in the air?”
Did the reporter physically measure the manhole covers’ trajectory? How in fact is he so certain they “[rocketed] 30 feet in the air?”
Seriously… I cross the street whenever I see a ConEd truck. Seems like there’s a 30% chance of major destruction if they are doing work!
I don’t fault the workers, DIBS is right (did I just say that?) The infrastructure is amazingly decrepit… and half the time it’s not even the electrical infrastructure that’s the problem. It’s the leaking sewer system that uses such an outdated configuration, I’m surprised the treatment plants actually function.
I also like the dramatic prose! Mr. B should create Brownstoner, The Collectively Sourced Novel and/or blog.
My first entry: Peeking through the eyelets in my toile curtains, the dappled, flickering light of the dying transformer reminded him of his dear mother, reading by candlelight at his bedside as a child.