Snow Sparks NYC Manhole Explosion, Three Firefighters Injured

By Mark Leberfinger, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

March 6,2015; 10:44PM,EST

 

 

Three New York City firefighters were injured late Thursday night after a weather-related manhole explosion in Brooklyn, the New York Daily News reported.
The explosion was one of five such incidents in the borough late Wednesday into Thursday, according to the NYFD Twitter feed.

  FDNY        ✔ @FDNY Follow

BKLYN ALL HANDS 1284 BROADWAY, MANHOLE FIRE,

10:41 PM - 5 Mar 2015

Con Edison told the Daily News that underground pressure combined with melting snow and salt corroding wires caused the explosions.
A Con Edison truck pulls up as smoke pours out during a manhole fire along West 23rd Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York, Wednesday, March 4, 2015. (AP Photo/David Boe)
It was 40 F at midnight Thursday at Central Park after a high of 45 F earlier in the day, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Evan Duffey said.
"It was raining, it was reasonably warm and there was a breeze that made for decent melting conditions," Duffey said.
Central Park had a 13-inch snow cover on March 4; the melting took off about 7 inches of the cover before 7 inches of snow fell at the park on Thursday, Duffey said.
"So you had snow melt, slightly more than 1 inch of precipitation and salt creating a lot of run-off," he said.