5 story fireball

So imagine this: You're walking down West Houston Street by the Angelika Theater. It's just about dinner-time. It's a lovely summer evening in New York. Then, just in front of you, a BANG, and a 5 story fireball shoots up out of the subway grate!?!? That's what happened to a friend earlier this week when a ConEd Transformer exploded in front of 18 West Houston Street.

The cause of the transformer explosion that caused the fireball has yet to be determined, according to the paltry news coverage this story is getting. Here's the story from New York Newsday.

Con Edison is still investigating the cause of a transformer explosion at the corner of Mercer and West Houston streets yesterday that left a man injured with second-degree burns and scorched a portion of a 13-story building.

A spokesperson for Con Edison, D. Joy Faber, said that a Con Edison crew was at the site inspecting the vault. "How it happened, that's what we're trying to determine right now," Faber said.

As my friend said, the lack of interest from the media makes you wonder how often this really happens. Scary.

Blogger, Hermitude, was also nearby.

...all of a sudden there's this noise behind me. It sounds like thunder, only up close. I turn around and something has exploded not 10 feet away from me. Along with everyone else, I start running away from the huge ball of fire and smoke. People are yelling something about a bomb.

See the rest of her post here.