By Albert Amateau
An electric cable fire under Hudson St. in Tribeca caused an explosion that propelled seven manhole covers between Worth and N. Moore Sts. about 30 feet in the air and burned a woman pedestrian who was passing by shortly before 5 p.m. Wed. Aug. 13.
About 24 hours before the major power outage that left much of the northeast of the U.S. and Southern Ontario in the dark, the Hudson St. event partially cut off power in 100 buildings between W. Broadway and Hudson St. from Leonard to N. Moore Sts. for more than an hour, according to a Con Edison spokesperson.
The woman who was burned was taken to the Weil Burn Center at New York Hospital in stable condition according to the Fire Department.
“We were all watching the manholes smoking for a while before the explosion,” said Steve Rogers, an owner of the Sporting Club, a bar at 99 Hudson St. at Franklin St. “They blew up almost in succession.” Rogers and patrons of the bar watched a manhole cover at Franklin St. fly into the air but did not see where it landed. “We kept down until we heard it thud on the ground,” Rogers recalled.
Firefighters had been on the scene since the manholes were reported smoking. Twelve companies with 60 firefighters were on hand, according to a department spokesperson.
Peter Gleason, a resident of Independence Plaza North, was crossing Hudson St. when a manhole cover blew more than 30 feet into the air. “It took out the street lamp above it,” Gleason said. “From what I could see, firefighters raced to the woman who was injured just south of Franklin St.”
Susan Sonz, a resident of the neighborhood and manager of Washington Market Park, was crossing Franklin St. on Wed. afternoon when Con Edison and firefighters tried to stop her from going further.
“I lived through 9/11 and like a lot of people I said, ‘No…. I’m going back to my apartment to unplug the computer, get some underwear and get out of here.’ ” Firefighters escorted her home. “After 9/11 I’m not the person I used to be. I just get this feeling. It all freaks me out,” Sonz said.
Con Edison said the company was still investigating the cause of the cable fire. A transformer is located at the site, but Con Ed said the problem was caused by a secondary burnout, which is a cable fire.
