Kate sent in the photo above and description below of an explosion and fire on West 98th street between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive shortly before midnight on Tuesday.
“Just before midnight on w 98th between riverside and west end there were a bunch of loud pops followed by a small explosion with lots of smoke coming from a grate under a car. The pops lasted about 20 seconds and then it a loud bang with fire and then just a whole lot of smoke. 3 fire trucks came and about 6 police officers, power was lost to 2 buildings on the south side of the street. By about 1:30am con-ed showed up and they are working on the problem now. I imagine the street will be shut down for quite a while. I took a picture for you guys so you could let people know. No word on what caused it yet.
I saw the explosion and live in one of the buildings that is without power right now.”
Con Edison spokesman Allan Drury says that an underground cable failed and two buildings lost power, but the cable has since been replaced and power is back on.
