Might be good to avoid towns with names beginning with M today:

Channel 4 reports flames shot 20 to 30 feet in the air when manholes exploded on Main Street in Medford around 10:30 a.m. and that several thousand people are now without power.

William Fleurant tweets traffic is, as you might expect, a mess there (where 38, 16 and I-93 come together).

MBTA Police report power went out at the Malden Orange Line station, trapping one person in an elevator.

Location

A manhole fire at Seaver and Maple streets around 9 a.m. knocked out power to the surrounding area and caused a traffic mess.

Location

At 302 Washington St., Boston Police tweet.

Melnea Cass Boulevard and Washington Street in Roxbury around 5:30 p.m., my new obsession tweets.

Steven Walsh captures the aftermath yesterday in front of 124 Harvard St.

Earlier:
Not the first attack for these devious holes in the ground.

Via Neal Simpson.

Jeffrey Marsh tweets:

Boylston Apple Store still closed. Apparently there was a underground fire/manhole cover explosion, knocked the power out on most the block

Wicked Local Brookline reports "geysers of fire" erupted at Pleasant and Browne streets yesterday.

NStar worker injured, but expected to survive the flash fire under Freeport Street.

Flaming manhole this morning.

The Crimson reports on flaming manholes early this morning:

A fire started underground on the corner of Mass Ave and Dunster Street was visible through several manholes in the Square this morning. Harvard's Holyoke Center, Cambridge Savings Bank, Au Bon Pain, and other nearby institutions were evacuated, and automobile access to the Square had been severely restricted by the Cambridge Fire Department. ...

NeutralSurface took photos, including the one on the right.

Channel 5 reports. NECN has video on "the underground mechanical failure" as well (great fire-AND-ice NECN screen capture).

Sushiesque was on the scene later in the morning taking photos of the aftermath:

Mishka gets the day off.

Michael: On second thought, maybe I'll go to Yale.

Crispyfoods captures Old Flameful outside the Pit:

Not again!

Then again, it has been awhile since manholes last exploded in the North End. Also, despite the cool headline, nobody died from the geysers of flame, although, as you might expect, people were none too happy.

Channel 5 has some video.

The Pulitzer for Best Explanatory Paragraph goes to the Globe for really bringing the story home - especially for all its readers in Kansas:

The neighborhood, which is popular with tourists looking for an Italian meal, is also home to a number of college students.