MARCH 5, 2015
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
Three firefighters were injured when a manhole cover
exploded in Brooklyn on Thursday, authorities said.
At least 14 explosions sent manhole covers flying across the
borough. There were no injuries in 13 of them.
But in the last one, at Broadway near Lexington Ave. in
Bushwick, a cover hit one firefighter in the leg and fractured it, Fire Chief
Daniel Martinetion said.
Flying debris launched in the 10 p.m. blast left another
firefighter with a head wound and a third with a foot injury, a Fire Department
source said. All three are expected to recover.
The rupture sent a jolt through the block, neighbors said.
One said the lights blinked in her home. “The last time we saw the lights flickering
was when the fish market exploded,” said Winter Cason, 35.
Con Edison reps said the blasts were due to underground gas pressure
from the burning wires and insulation. The fires start because the wires are corroded by the chemical soup being used to melt the ice/snow.
Source: www.nydailynews.com