BROOKLYN — An FDNY captain suffered a serious leg injury fighting a manhole fire in Bushwick Thursday night, officials said.
Captain Donald Hodgkinson, a veteran with 20-plus years, was responding to a manhole fire at 1291 Broadway in Bushwick about 9:50 p.m. when he was injured in an explosion.
"Last night, while operating at a manhole fire in Brooklyn, FDNY Captain Donald Hodgkinson suffered a traumatic leg injury when an underground service box exploded underneath him," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. "This terrible incident underscores the very dangerous work that FDNY members perform at thousands of incidents every day to protect life and property in our city."
Hodgkinson, whose leg was fractured in multiple places, was taken to Kings County Hospital and then transferred to the Hospital for Special Surgery.
ConEd and National Grid workers were also hurt responding to a separate manhole incident Thursday night, officials said.
Salty snow melt corroded underground throughout the city and ignited 110 manhole events throughout the city including the two that injured responding crews, a ConEd spokesman. That followed 170 on Wednesday, he added.
► WHY ARE THERE SO MANY MANHOLE FIRES?
Two other firefighters were treated for minor injuries at the hospital, officials said.
ConEd crews cut power to the affected part of Broadway near Lexington Avenue about 12:30 a.m., business owners said.
"It's very bad for business. I have frozen stuff that now I need to throw away," said Sam Said, 54, manager of a nearby Associated Supermarket.
"Last night, they said by 6 a.m. everything will be fine, but it's not. It's very frustrating."
ConEd did not immediately provide further information about the manhole fire.
The manhole fire that wounded the firefighters occurred about an hour after a separate manhole blaze left two utility workers injured in Boerum Hill, near the intersection of Pacific and Nevins streets at 8:44 p.m.
A National Grid employee slipped and was taken to a hospital, cleared and released, a spokeswoman for that utility said.
A ConEd employee was also hurt, but a spokesman said for the utility did not know how.
One of them was treated at Bellevue Hospital Center, FDNY officials said.
