Con Ed crews work on damage from manhole fires on 75th Street in Woodhaven last Thursday morning. Anna Gustafson/The Forum Newsgroup
A white van’s windshield was completely shattered in the explosion.
Manhole fires on 75th Street near 88th Avenue in Woodhaven early last Thursday morning sent five people to the hospital and scorched two cars, according to area residents and Con Edison.
Two manholes reportedly erupted into flames just before 1 a.m., and two others were gushing smoke, a Con Edison spokesman said. The FDNY said it had the blaze under control by 2 a.m. Five individuals were taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center to be treated for smoke inhalation, according to officials.
“I heard a loud boom, but I didn’t know what it was,” said Sebastine Cruz, who lives on 75th Street. “My mom went outside, and she saw all the fire trucks and police and said there was an explosion. I was scared.”
Andres Veras, who also lives on 75th Street, said his daughter saw the incident and told her father that it caused flames to “shoot up in the air.
“She said there was smoke everywhere,” Veras said. “I was going to park my car where it happened. I thought, ‘Oh God, what if I had done that?’”
A Con Edison spokesman said the cause of the fires was a failure of underground delivery equipment.
Con Ed crews continued to repair the damage throughout the day Thursday. A couple of customers lost power because of the blazes, but the Con Edison spokesman said it was restored by 6 a.m. Thursday morning.
The fires left two cards badly scorched, including this one.
By Anna Gustafson
