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Underground Fire Leaves 770 Without Power Overnight in Harlem

By DNAinfo Staff on July 21, 2010 8:12am  | Updated on July 21, 2010 9:24am

By Olivia Scheck and Simone Sebastian

DNAinfo Reporters/Producers

CENTRAL HARLEM — ConEd trucks crowded a block of 140th Street Wednesday morning, trying to fix the damage caused during a man-hole fire and power outage the previous evening.

The underground fire left 770 Harlem customers  between Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass boulevards without power Tuesday night, according to Con Edison.

Four people, including one firefighter, sustained minor injuries during the outage, fire officials said.

The blackout started when a feeder cable caught fire around 10 p.m. Tuesday night, knocking out a transformer, ConEd and fire officials said.

Some older residents were taken to the hospital for minor injuries or as a precaution, witnesses said. Younger residents fled their sweltering apartments into the streets to get relief from the heat during the power outage.

But many said the incident didn't cause them serious problems.

Resident Bridge McLean said her ice cream was still frozen in the freezer when she woke up this morning.

"We reset the clocks and then we turned on the air," she said. "When [the power] first went off, it stayed cool for a while. We were surprised."

But she added, "When we woke up, it was getting hot."

Power was restored to all customers by 5:26 a.m. on Wednesday, according to ConEd.


The cause of the fire may have been heat-related, though the issue was still under investigation, ConEd said.

Residents applauded the rapid response of the utility company and emergency services.

"They went into every building and checked on the elderly," said Kathy Raiford, whose elderly mother lives on the street and was taken to Harlem Hospital during the outage because she uses an oxygen tank.

She said her mother was back home and didn't sustain any injuries.

"I have to admit, they came so quickly," Raiford said of the emergency response. "I give them an A on this."