Transformer Fire Disrupts New York

Sat Jul 20, 7:54 PM ET

By ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - A fire at a utility plant Saturday blacked out power for tens of thousands of people in a swath of lower Manhattan and snarled transportation around the city.

The power was expected to be out through Sunday and extra police officers were being deployed in the blacked-out areas, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

High-rise apartment buildings were darkened, and some complexes were evacuated. Most subway traffic through downtown was suspended or rerouted.

There was no evidence the fire was caused by anything other than an accident, Bloomberg said.

The apparent cause was a transformer explosion at the plant, which provides power for much of lower Manhattan, said Joe Petta, a Consolidated Edison spokesman.

As smoke billowed over downtown from the midafternoon fire, police and National Guardsmen blocked off streets and directed traffic as onlookers crowded nearby. A stretch of Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, a major highway along the east side of Manhattan, was closed.

"It sounded like a jet plane crashing and then a big thing of black smoke went up in the air," witness Michael Koster said.

"First we heard a big noise then we saw the black smoke," deli owner Alex Darwish said.

About 63,000 customers lost power in areas south of 14th Street to the lower tip of Manhattan, the utility said. The neighborhoods affected included Greenwich Village, SoHo and Tribeca.

Nurses were seen working with flashlights at St. Vincent's Hospital, but administrators said critical care was not affected.

"Having gone through previous disasters such as 9-11, we are a pretty well-oiled machine," said hospital vice president William Grice.

Shops in the blacked-out areas began shutting their doors shortly after losing power.

"We have no choice, we have to close. Can't open the register, can't give anybody a receipt," said Jimmy Vejerano, manager of a discount store. "Plus the lights are out. It's a safety hazard. Nobody can see where they're going."

Consolidated Edison said some of its workers were inside the plant at the time of the explosion. No injuries were reported.

The utility said once the fire was out, workers would assess the damage to equipment and what repairs will be needed.

-- (terror 101 @ make it. slow and painful), July 21, 2002

Answers

Of course Dumbya doesn't want anyone to know that he still hasn't done jack shit to improve our security, so he has no doubt sent the FBI in to cover up the evidence and tell everyone it was just "an accident".

-- (more lies @ from. dumbya), July 21, 2002.

Accidents DO HAPPEN, you know.

-- sheesh (cut@down on.caffeine), July 21, 2002.

What kind of "accident" causes an explosion at a power plant? Our "intelligence" agencies did intercept threats that our power plants were being targeted, but I guess we're supposed to pretend this is just a coincidence since they are obviously not prepared for it.

Maybe you're right, it's probably best just to play dumb. After all, who cares if the power goes out for a few hours. Even if they hit several plants simultaneously and the grid goes down, sheeeet, we can live without electricity! What happens if they hit a nuke plant though? Oh that's right, accidents happen!

-- duh duh duh (okie dokie @ dumb. and happy), July 21, 2002.

There was no evidence the fire was caused by anything other than an accident, Bloomberg said.

The fact that they said this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was not an accident. It was most likely a Y2K problem. The customers were obviously pollies.

-- (stupid@doo.mer), July 21, 2002.

I love doom. I hope we get hit by an asteroid carrying a virus which destroys all pugs and leaves all humans intact.

-- yeah (now that @ would. be most awesome), July 21, 2002.

Yes, it would surely be most awesome. Then you can roll around blissfully in your own feces without anyone to stop you.

-- (pugs@fighting.back), July 22, 2002.

No, then we'd be rolling around in pugs, which is a lot worse than feces. They stink more.

-- (eeeeew @ no. thanks), July 22, 2002.

If the virus kills all the pugs just who's gonna write your check?

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), July 22, 2002.