MIDTOWN — Smoke from an electrical fire spewed out of a construction site in the middle of the street Monday afternoon, fire officials and witnesses said.
Firefighters were called to the intersection of West 51st Street and Eighth Avenue at 3:51 p.m., an FDNY spokesman said. They could be seen spraying water into what appeared to be an underground construction site.
The preliminary investigation revealed that a communications wire caught fire under the street but did not impact the 50th Street Subway station beneath it, according to Battalion Chief Mark Foris.
Jose Porduhondo, 40, who works as a super for a building in the area, told DNAinfo New York that construction on a water line at that location has been going on for months, and about 20 minutes after workers left "black, strong smelling smoke" began pouring out of the street.
"Everybody need to close their nose, the smoke is strong," he said. "I was scared."
No one was injured in the incident, the FDNY said.
