By COLlive reporter
A series of underground explosions have occurred on Empire Boulevard near Brooklyn Avenue on Sunday morning.
Three loud explosions were heard on Empire Boulevard, one after the other, at approximately 10:30 am, a witness told COLlive.
One of the explosions was under a parked car, which led to a large fire, he said.
Smoke from one of the explosions filled Empire Shtiebel as a Minyan was davening Shacharis. Firefighters arrived and evacuated the Shul.
The explosions appear to be electrically related, a bystander told COLlive. Another explosion was heard at about 10:45 am, and bystanders reported a strong gas odor in the area.
Many homes and businesses on the block and on nearby Montgomery Street are being evacuated due to high Carbon monoxide levels being reported.
Con Ed and National Grid personnel are on the scene.
Empire Boulevard between Brooklyn and New York Avenues remains closed. Residents should expect a heavy presence of emergency personnel in the area. Consider alternate routes and allow for additional travel time.
No injuries have been reported.
No smoke in shul. They asked people to leave because of CO2 as a precautionary measure.
Didn’t have a larger fire. There was smoke pouring out of the manhole but no visible fire. Bh doesn’t seem like any injuries so far. Avoid empire between Brooklyn and New York.
Easily the scariest moment of my life. It felt like there was a bomb or a building fell
Any plan?
The noise was so loud I thought there was a bomb
The same thing happened recently at 1:15 in the morning on Union near Kingston. There was a huge explosion and fire. Baruch HaShem noone was walking by then, and B”H there was not a car there, even though most of the time there is usually a car parked in that spot. Con Edison has to figure out whats going on and fix it fast.
Assuming this was transformers that can’t handle the load, just wait for the summer time.
Oh and wait until the only choice is for people to recharge electric vehicles because the government wants to ban gasoline engines.
Plenty of electric capacity, right?
So true!
We were smelling gas in the A.M
Maybe they’ll redo the electricity so all of crown heights will be able to use their air conditioners and refrigerators this summer and they can bury the overhead wires on Midwood Street, while they are at it iy”h.
?
Give it 24 hours
The govt assigned trillions to ‘infrastructure’. Clearly not toward the Jewish neighbourhood of crown heights.
The word “infrastructure” comes from Latin “infra,” meaning “money,” and “structure,” meaning “which is shoveled into politicians’ and their cronies’ pockets.”
May we please have updates on this (e.g., the cause, how widespread, will it continue, solution, etc.)?
Smelled gas at 2:30 A.M. plus a smoky smell. I knew it was outdoors but had no clue where. I think Con Ed should check out all their underground infrastructure in the neighborhood.
Gas is usually National Grid, not ConEd
and thank you to the first responders and crews