exploding manholes

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.

Manhole explodes this afternoon on Needham Street near Rte. 9 in Newton (two blocks from Margalit, who is starting to wonder what the deal is with her neighborhood's karma).

Tires blown at coverless manhole on Nonantum Road in Brighton this morning.

If steam pipes in New York explode, should we worry? After all, downtown has a similar steam network. WBZ digs deep and demands answers. Maybe Trigen could get some tips from Nstar.

Beso reports ongoing issues related to the North End exploding manholes - and the resulting Nstar repair work:

... The police have been downright nasty when asked the simpliest questions by tourists and delivery men and NSTAR has given residents NO INFORMATION on what's going on and when it's going to end. I have a tenant moving in on 9/1 and I honestly don't know where the poor girl is going to be allowed to park her truck. Normally, you can get a one day permit when moving but I can't get an answer for her.

Beso reports he and his Hanover Street neighbors are still getting their power from diesel generators, several days after all those manholes exploded:

... At night, everyone's house is filled w/ the stink of diesel fuel from those things. Horrible.

Ron took a walk down Hanover Street today and says it's still a mess:

... Not only is it full of NStar trucks and heavy equipment, but they're jackhammering in front of Caffe dello Sport. That can't be much fun for the people trying to drink coffee or watch soccer games inside. ...

Catherine reports on a verbal altercation between a diner and the son of the owner of a North End restaurant shortly after the power came back on:

... Eventually, the family paid for the meal and left the restaurant angrily (the manager had gone over and apologized or something I think). But then the son follows them out of the restuarant and the argument continues!! The son was saying "You're not welcome here anymore!" and going on and on like, "Remember what neighborhood you're in" (?) and saying something about knowing their address and that they had something coming. !!! It was absolute madness. Someone random just walking by shouted at the son, "You're lucky that your daddy gave you a job!" and all sorts of people started laughing. ...

Marianne, a new North End resident (she'd only gotten her bed delivered yesterday), fled back to her dad's house in New Hampshire for the night:

... Well my new neighborhood - the North End - has been having electrical related fires and explosions under the streets nearby where I live. Not only does it petrify me to see flames shooting out of manhole covers 2 streets away (given my present circumstances) but it has also knocked out all the electricity in the neighborhood.

Now my apartment (with barely any furniture, no Internet, and no cable) is boring enough WITH electricity. I couldn't bear to sit in the dark with no a/c on a 90 degree night. ...

Jeremi reports from his darkened North End condo:

... This is the second electrical fire in 2 days in the North End. All power has been cut in this and surrounding neighborhoods. I am writting this post via my mobile phone.

I wonder what brainiac at NStar is responsible for this mess???

Kristen reports on how the North End power outage affected her:

... So, I got down the other side of the garage and the lobby there was a mob-scene. I didn't think I'd have a chance of getting my car out at all, so I went and sat outside for a bit to try to figure out what was happening, but couldn't find anything out. The Aquarium was closing down because of the power outtage, so I decided to go inside and see if the cash room needed any help. Thank god I did, because it was just Laura and she was trying to close out all of the cash from the cashiers with just two flashlights! I tracked down some more lights (it's creepy to be inside that building with no windows or lights, let me just say!). We were in there a while, and I finally got some info on what had happened, though I found out most of it on the way home in my car.

Julio, thankfully, was slightly wrong. It wasn't an attack, and it was in the North End, not North Station (not far from each other, but far enough lol). ... I breathed a major sigh of relief, since it wasn't terror-related or anything, but it was still really creepy feeling. ...

I had hoped, that with everything closing early and the power being off, that the garage would just let people out without paying, etc. Of couse I was wrong, since InterPark are the most greediest bastards in all of Boston. They were making people take cash out of the ATM (with $2.50 fee) because it had it's own powersource, and then had them pay cash for their parking ticket. It was a mess! ...

This afternoon around 4:30 pm, the power went out at my office on Union Wharf. A quick survey of the neighborhood found Hanover Street jammed with fire trucks, and smoke pouring out of the street near Sovereign Bank. When I returned to Union Wharf, smoke was also pouring out of a manhole in our parking lot.

Apparently this was the third underground North End fire in less than 24 hours. According to the lunchtime crowd at Contrada's, there was a fire last night around 10 pm, and another one this morning.

The Madonna della Cava festival is supposed to start tomorrow night around Hanover and Battery Street. I hope NStar can fix the problem by then.

Frecklegirl reports she and her beau had to put off their plans to get a marriage license at Cambridge City Hall after work due to yesterday's exploding underground power line:

... That wasn't in my plan for this afternoon ...