Multiple manhole explosions rattle Brooklyn neighborhood
NEW YORK -- Multiple manhole explosions in Brooklyn on Sunday morning shook up a neighborhood and severely damaged a car. Its owner narrowly escaped direct impact.
The explosions were so powerful, manhole covers around Empire Boulevard were sent feet into the air. A resident named Joel said he woke up to the three loud booms in his neighborhood, all from manholes that exploded.
"They told me it's best that I leave, so I left," Joel said.
The impact of a manhole cover hitting the ground at his doorstep shattered the windows of Joel's apartment building's front entrance.
"You ever heard fireworks? Just picture that but in your face," Joel said.
"We thought it was some sort of car accident or something," resident Mark Bonnett said.
"It just sounded like a bomb exploded out of nowhere," another resident added.
The FDNY is pointing to faulty wiring as the cause of the explosions, saying it was accidental.
"Her life just flash in front of her," one resident said.
That person was talking about her hairdresser's smoking SUV. After they evacuated the hair salon on Sunday morning, the hairdresser got in to move her car, as her client noticed the smoke coming up from the manhole she parked over.
"She went in. I beg her to come out of the car. I said, 'It's on fire!' She came out, it exploded," the resident said.
She told CBS2 she missed the explosion by a second, escaping uninjured but very shaken. Dozens of homes were left without power Sunday afternoon. The explosions led to dangerous levels of carbon dioxide entering homes. Homes and businesses had to evacuate.
"You feel dizzy, lightheaded, and I said, 'Wow, it's crazy how you get to feel the effects of it because you don't smell it,'" Bonnett said.
Bonnett's carbon dioxide detectors didn't work, so this was his reminder to conduct the recommended monthly tests on them. The FDNY says no one was injured.
Con Ed says it is still investigating the exact cause of the explosions.
