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Explosions Scare Empire Boulevard Residents

CROWN HEIGHTS [CHI] — A series of explosions brought out the residents on Empire Boulevard who wondered what caused the loud noises. After 911 were called firefighters responded and determined that the explosions were caused by an electric manhole fire.


The incident took place at around 8:00pm on Empire Boulevard near Brooklyn Avenue. One resident described the incident by first hearing a single loud bang or explosion followed by a few smaller ones, followed by a column of smoke rising from the street.

ConEdison was called to fix the problem, which caused a brownout in a number of homes on the block.

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7 Comments

  • CON ED!!!!!

    AND THEN CON ED WANTS TO RAISE THEIR PRICES ON ELECTRIC BILLS, WHY ? SO THEY SHOULD HAVE MORE MANHOLES GOING ON AND NOT DO THEIR JOB PROPERLY….. THE MANHOLES COME BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT DOING THEIR JOBS PROPERLY !!!!!

  • CON ED supporter

    With all due respect, CON ED is doing a mighty fine job. I dont know what you all are smoking! You have to learn to appreciate the little things in life. These men and women are fine noble caring people. You should be offering them ice tea when they come to put your power back on!

  • OYYYY

    #1 tell me about it. My husband was the one who called 911, when he heard popping and banging noises. We thought the car that was parked in front of our house would explode. The fire department quickly realized what the problem was. About an hour later, Con Ed showed up. IF it was not so sad, it would have been comical, like a scene from Laurel and Hardy. One guy gets out of the truck to show the other guy where to park. Then he goes back into the truck, opens up his laptop, and starts to play SOLITAIRE!!! His partner came out of the truck, and took about 1/2 an hour to set himself up for work. Me and you would have taken about 5 minutes. I laughed with my husband, as I said he looked like he was walking with a full diaper! He finally opened up the manhole cover, and promptly recovered it. At that point my husband went over to him to ask him what was wrong that made the popping noise. When he realized someone was there, he uncovered the manhole, and pulled some more stuff out of the truck. Then after about 10 minutes, HE AND HIS PARTNER WENT TO SLEEP!!!!! We went to sleep around 11:30 and they were still sleeping!!!! I dont know what happened after that. U want to know why our bills are so high??????