Posted to Fires on

Manhole Fire Burns Two Cars

Crown Heights, Brooklyn — A large column of black smoke was visible just moments ago on Kingston and Eastern Parkway and a strong stench of acidic smoke filled the intersection. A parked minivan was going up in flames as firefighters battled the blaze.

More pictures in the Extended Article.

With temperatures in Crown Heights reaching 90 degrees air conditioners are running and the ConEd power grid is really being put to the test. The fire started from an overheating manhole which set fire to the car parked above it, setting off its airbags, threatening to ignite the gas tank and completely destroying the car.

Earlier this summer ConEd released a press release urging its customers to conserve energy and tips such as cleaning air conditioner filters and using fans, even offering free programmable thermostats in order to conserve energy so event such as these do not happen.

A manhole cover just up the block began smoking and firefighters taped off the area and kept curios onlookers back in case it exploded.

Another car parked in front of the minivan was significantly damaged.

Please visit ConEd.com to view their complete list of energy saving tips.

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16 Comments

  • rach

    this is unbelievable. I just hope they restore the elecricity asap!! many people are left without lights, AC, hot water, etc.

  • melbourne

    wow! what about the car? it belongs to someone!, how do manholes overheating have to do with us conserving energy?

  • elchonon

    aww c’mon you guys! how about a “baruch hashem no one was hurt!!”

  • a girl

    i hope he has car insurence
    and i hope that no one was in the car
    i feel bad that this happend and a nice car well not any more

  • Moral of the Story

    Moral of the story: Don’t park over a manhole cover in hot weather, unless you want a new car.

  • Morah s

    To: what does the fire have to do with conserving enery?>>

    the fire comes after the smoke. the smoke is caused by heat. the heat comes from the power grids under the streets that provide electricity. the electricity is used by appliances. an air conditioner is an appliance. air conditioners use a lot of electricity, especially when it’s 100 degrees out and everyone has their’s on full blast. Conserving energy means not having the air conditioner and other electronic appliances on the highest setting, going all day and night. a good way to conserve energy is to use a fan and/or turn the air conditioner on “powersave” so it shuts off automatically when the room is cool, and turns back on intermittently when the room gets warmer. good luck getting green!

  • Neighbor

    Thank you Morah S. Unfortunately there are many folks who need your breakdown of the cycle of electricity (and to know what appliance means) to understand the connection.

    To Elchonon: You’re on the right track!

  • a girl

    at least there were no ppl in the car b”h thats enough 2 b thank full for!!
    but the fact is now they r left with out a car its sad how many accidents hapopen a aday and many of the ppl die thankfully no 1 was in the car (i am writing that againg to stress my point!!)