Underground fires, carbon monoxide issues keep FDNY, Con Edison busy
There were 250 underground fires and carbon monoxide issues caused by corroding electrical wires under the city between midnight Monday and 6 p.m. Tuesday, officials said. One fire destroyed an SUV, forced six homes to be evacuated and left 17 buildings without power for hours in Brooklyn on Tuesday. On the bright side, the number of manhole incidents appears to be dropping.
BY ERIK BADIA , THOMAS TRACY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 8:11 AM
Updated: Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 7:05 PM
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The city is burning underground.
The FDNY and Con Edison raced to 250 underground fires and carbon monoxide spikes sparked by corroding electrical wires snaking under the city between midnight Monday and 6 p.m. Tuesday, officials said.
One fire — caused when a caustic cocktail of melted slush and rock salt ate its way through the below-ground power lines — led to the destruction of an SUV parked on a Brooklyn street, the evacuation of six homes and left 17 buildings without power for nearly seven hours Tuesday morning, officials said.
Five blocks away, another subterranean explosion sent a manhole covercareening into Sal Grillo as he walked his dog Monday, leaving him hospitalized, officials said.
“We tend to see an elevated response to manhole conditions — fires, elevated carbon monoxide readings, and smoking — after a heavy snowfall,” an FDNY source explained Tuesday. “We oversalt the roads and when it melts it goes into the manholes and the chemicals erode the wires, which catch fire.”
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“We see it every year,” the source said.
The number of manhole incidents appear to be dropping.
In January, 2014, as a polar vortex gripped the city, the FDNY responded to 1,321 incidents, statistics show. Last month, firefighters responded to 977 incidents, which include fires, smoking manhole covers and reports of carbon monoxide, according FDNY spokeswoman Elisheva Zakheim.
More than 1,900 manhole incidents were investigated in February, 2014, officials said.
Con Edison’s numbers are lower because they count by line, not by individual manholes, explained utility spokesman Philip O’Brien, who said Monday’s explosion and Tuesday’s fire were the worst of the manhole incidents to take place in the last 48 hours.
TODD MAISEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSSmoke rises from the manhole in Park Slope on Monday. Two people were injured.
“None of the others reached the extent of those two,” O’Brien said. “The public should always be concerned about smoking manholes and if they see one they should not go near it and call us or 911. But is this anything that’s beyond the norm in winter? There is nothing that indicates that at this point.”
Tuesday’s fire took place below Sixth St. and Sixth Ave. just before 4:15 a.m., officials said.
Flames shot up from the manhole and engulfed the SUV parked above it, stunned witnesses said.
"It started as just smoke under the hood and then pretty quickly it progressed to a full-blown fire," said Jacob Loban, 36, who lives across the street from the fire. "The flames spread from the front of the car back... the windows popped... the tires popped, which was pretty loud.”
“The flames started off small but then they grew,” he said. “They were maybe four feet above the top of the car at one point.”
O’Brien said Con Edison’s research and development department has been investigating how to prevent the lines from being corroded by salt water.
“They tell us that nothing they’re working on is ready to be used at this point,” he said.
Anyone wanting to report a potential problem can call (800) 75-CONED.
