Flaming Manholes on Austin Street, Forest Hills NY

[envisionelec]

Flaming...man...holes....

[81megaman]

Why?

[81megaman]

Omg

[Aeiutube]

I NEVER remembered that.

[lsteer100]

what is going on exactly?

[Ten7d5]

@lsteer100 Many manholes aren't "sewers", they are underground electrical transformers (notice the lack of overhead powerlines for the amount of buildings there are). Electrical conduits run between transformers and from transformers to buildings. Sometimes they short out and burn especially in winter with salty run-off going into them. Since you can't put water on an electrical fire, the FD has to wait for Con-Ed, and in the meantime they check adjoining buildings for smoke, fire, and CO.

[trainluvr]

flare up at :50