Cable Failure Caused Manhole Fire: ConEd

The manhole explosion on Central Avenue Feb. 27 that left nearly 1,000 customers wiithout power, some of them overnight, was due to an underground fire, according to Consolidated Edison.

"The cause was failure of underground electrical cables," ConEd spokesman Allan Drury told Patch this morning. "Contrary to press reports, there was no transformer fire."

Police had initially worried that other explosions were possible and had cordoned off additional manholes. Traffic through Hartsdale was shut down from Central Avenue to Hartsdale Village after the 2:30 p.m. explosion.

"The smoke migrated to other manholes," Drury explained.

Residents at 100 E. Hartsdale Ave. had no power overnight—on a night where the air temperature hit -13 degrees F at Westchester County Airport, according to the National Weather Service. 

After power was restored to the apartment building, Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner thanked public works and Con Ed crews, firefighters and police. 

"During this crisis—which impacted most of the residents of East Hartsdale Avenue—they worked cooperatively and efficiently at getting power restored," Feiner said. "I was pleased that we had a bus available in front of the apartments—offering residents an opportunity to warm up temporarily. If people would have requested temporary shelter the town would have made provided shelter at our community center."