Early morning manhole explosions rattled an Elmhurst neighborhood on February, 22, 2005, in front of 75-15 Woodside Ave, around 7:30 AM.
The FDNY was first alerted by a telephone call reporting a manhole explosion. The fire department immediately responded to the scene, and found several manholes with smoke pouring out of them. Queens' Battalion 46 took command of the situation, and used two engines and two ladders at the scene.
With Con-Edision en route, firefighters safeguarded the area until Con-Ed could diffuse the situation. With an unsafe condition, including manholes smoking directly under parked cars, Queens residents on Woodside Avenue were a bit surprised as they began their way to work; numerous fire department personnel flooded the area, along with police officers standing guard. Residents were left to take detours to get to their destination for their own safety.
As firefighters were standing by, suddenly there was loud bang. It was the first of three more manholes that would explode that morning. Luckily, there were no injuries reported, just a number of people shook up after hearing the loud roar from the explosion.
The bottom of a white Ford Taurus station wagon was damaged; other cars parked over manholes at the scene didn't suffer significant damage. No businesses or homes were affected by the explosions.
