A massive street fire in Williamsburg engulfed cars and caused more than 200 residents to flee a residential building.
The manhole fire stemmed from a transformer vault near Borinquen Plaza Houses, at 101 Humboldt Street.
Residents at the NYCHA building fled after FDNY detected elevated carbon monoxide readings around 3:30 am. It took FDNY crews about seven hours to contain the blaze.
“Two people were hurt during the evacuation and have been transported to Woodhull for evaluation,” ABC 7 reports. “Their injuries were fire-related.”
National Grid and Con Edison workers remain on the scene.
“It’s the worst of situations as far as the intersection of gas lines and electric utilities, and so there’s a main right underneath it. It’s not fed from one direction; it’s fed from multiple directions,” an FDNY official told CBS News.
Authorities are still working to determine the cause of the fire.
It’s the second manhole fire in the area in the past couple of days (snow and road salt can often seep into underground electrical equipment). A Monday afternoon fire prompted a power outage just a few blocks away on Montrose Avenue.