February 7, 2004

• Damn, 2 1/2 day weekend for me. Got out of work at 11:15 AM due to a transformer fire in my building. Nothing beats standing out in freezing rain worrying about an explosion to start your weekend, huh?

  
  

  http://www.ny1.com/ny/TopStories/SubTopic/index.html?topicintid=1&subtopicintid=1&contentintid=37091

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Transformer Fire Shuts Down Power To Manhattan Building

  FEBRUARY 06TH, 2004 Hundreds of residents in Manhattan were left without power Friday, after a transformer caught fire underneath a residential building in Lincoln Square. The fire started around 11:15 this morning underneath a building on West 64th Street, where flames were seen shooting up through a manhole cover in the street. Firefighters say the transformer that caught fire was in an electrical vault attached to a cellar underneath the building. Con Ed shut off power to the building to fix the transformer, and firefighters extinguished the fire. “We were able to vent,” said FDNY Deputy Chief Thomas Haring. “We put positive pressure into the building and vent the smoke and carbon monoxide out of the building." The blaze spread a few floors up from street level, and smoke was reported throughout the building, forcing residents to evacuate. "Outside the window we heard explosions. We had no idea what it was,” said building resident Doug Kaplan. “We looked out and saw flames shooting out from the street out of the manhole covers, and we knew there was a fire. Then all of a sudden we realized the smoke was coming into the building not from an outside window, but through the building itself." Residents weren't the only ones affected by this fire. At Sushi A-Go-Go, a local restaurant, chefs had to prepare food by candlelight just to keep business going. “We must have lost about $8,000, and it’s hurting me bad because I’ve got to go through the stress of maintaining," said Edwin Perez, the manager of the restaurant. "Customers are coming in little by little, ordering sushi to go or sushi to eat." No injuries were reported in connection with the blaze.

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