Friday, March 6, 2015

MANHOLE EXPLOSIONS IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK INJURE THREE FIREFIGHTERS. MORE THAN A DOZEN FIRES REPORTED.










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