Manhole Fires in Midtown

[jus_the_facts]

Source: NY Times

An exploding manhole on West 40th Street in Midtown shot flames three stories high at 1:40 p.m. Monday, and at least one other manhole cover blew off, fire officials said. No injuries were immediately reported. After the explosion, a firefighter yelled: “It’s not Disneyland, people. Get the hell out of the way.” The manholes are on 40th between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, in front of The New York Times building. Both issued thick gray smoke. Fire officials said the cause was not immediately clear.


Read more: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/manhhole-fires-in-midtown/

[Oceansaway]

1. wth ?...nt

[TheMadMonk]

3. Methane buildup is most likely culprit. nt

[PfcHammer]

16. I had the same problems Saturday morning after Taco Bell Fri night

[nyy1998]

17. lmao

}( :rofl:

[slackmaster]

2. They're filming a movie called The Great New York Earthquake - nothing to see

[maddezmom]

4. Underground cables blamed in NYC manhole fire

NEW YORK -- Underground cables are being blamed for a manhole fire that shot flames into the air a few blocks from Times Square.

Fire officials say they're investigating the fire at West 40th Street and Seventh Avenue. One other manhole cover has also blown off.

No injuries have been reported in the fire reported around 1:40 p.m. Monday.

A spokesman for the Con Edison utility says smoking underground electricity cables caused the fire. No power outages have been reported.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/03/AR2010050302812.html

[greiner3]

11. "smoking underground electricity cables;"

Once you get past the taste, the high lasts for a month.

[Zoeisright]

5. Decaying infrastructure, most likely.

We haven't improved infrastructure for more than a generation. And now it's catching up with us.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

9. +1

[glinda]

14. definitely and heat

[smirkymonkey]

20. We've been getting lucky for too long.

Manhattan has been making me very jitery lately - subways, old elevators, the roads are a mess, people are going ballistic left and right. I feel like things are about to come to a head here.

[snooper2]

21. They ran new sewer lines in my neighborhood in 2007...

replacing the ones installed in 1975...so I guess some infrastructure does get improved eh? :eyes:

[xultar]

6. Just a signal that Palin is going to tweet or facebook some bullshit.

[BigAnth]

8. If that were the case...

all of the manhole covers in Manhattan would have been blown off long, long ago.

[Renew Deal]

7. Same thing happened on Broadway and 52nd like three weeks ago.

:hide:

[Recursion]

10. We had that in DC for a while

Especially in Georgetown/Foggy Bottom. When the weather first turns warm the pressure blows them up in the air. It's kind of cool to watch actually.

[Better Believe It]

12. " It's kind of cool to watch actually." Not if you're standing on it!

[Roland99]

13. I'm reminded of a series of sewer explosions in Louisville in the 1980s near the UofL campus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville_sewer_explosions

[jdadd]

15. Heads.........

[Xenotime]

18. RW reaction: "Terra TERRA!!"

[Lance_Boyle]

19. Won't somebody *PLEASE* think of the CHUDren? n/t