By Patrick Hedlund and Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Staff
EAST VILLAGE — A transformer exploded at an East Village power station Wednesday afternoon, setting the facility ablaze and frightening local residents, fire officials and witnesses said.
The blaze started around 2:19 p.m. at the Con Edison substation on East 14th Street and Avenue D, the FDNY said, sending smoke, debris and ash over the adjacent FDR Drive.
"It exploded twice — like a chain reaction," Manuel Feliciano, 43, who was sitting in a park in the Jacob Riis Houses next door to the Con Ed plant when the fire started.
"I said to myself it was another terrorist attack. Another 9/11 or something."
No injuries were immediately reported, fire officials said.
Flames could still be seen on the transformer about an hour after the fire began.
While no power outages occurred, some customers may have noticed their lights flicker, reflecting a dip in voltage, a Con Edison spokesman said.
Eastbound and westbound M14 buses were being detoured to 10th Street as of 3 p.m., MTA officials said. No other service changes had been reported.
