Cable fire causes Schenectady manhole explosion

Puzzles Bakery and Café was serving lunch to customers Tuesday afternoon when a nearby manhole exploded, prompting an evacuation of nearby buildings in downtown Schenectady.

Puzzles, at 515 State St., was in the midst of its busiest time of day when an explosion underground on neighboring Barrett Street caused a manhole cover to fly 5 feet into the air.

“The power was flickering so I thought I would run outside to see if anything was going on,” said Puzzles owner Sara Mae Hickey. “I saw smoke pouring from the manhole right outside our bakery. Somebody was already calling 911, but I figured I’d call too, and they came right over.”

When Schenectady firefighters arrived on the scene, they blocked off State Street from Clinton to Lafayette streets, and Barrett Street from State to Franklin streets.

State Street was reopened about a half hour after the incident was reported around 12:30 p.m. Barrett Street remained blocked to traffic as National Grid worked on the scene.

An electrical cable that caught on fire underground caused the explosion, according to National Grid spokesman Patrick Stella. The cable fire caused pressure to build up underground and the manhole cover to fly off, he said.

The explosion did not cause any damage or injuries.

“One of the cables underground started to smolder, and the gas built up within the duct, and after a while it built up a lot of pressure because there is nowhere for the gas to go,” Stella said.

Firefighters entered Puzzles Bakery as customers were eating lunch to check the basement. They found smoke in the basement pouring in from the street, prompting an evacuation of the building.

Hickey said she managed to grab boxes for customers to pack up their food before they stepped out into the bitter cold.

“At the time there was no great urgency to leave,” she said. “But shortly thereafter the fire alarms started going off so we rushed out pretty quickly then. We got out quickly and calmly.”

Puzzles and several neighboring buildings on State Street between Barrett and Lafayette streets were forced to evacuate as a precaution, according to Fire Chief Ray Senecal.

Stella said no customers in the area lost power. There are several cables underground that provide power, so if one goes out it doesn’t affect service, he said.

National Grid expected to continue repairs throughout the night and be finished by Wednesday morning. Stella said the cable would have to be pulled out and replaced.

“This is not something we see often,” he said. “We do inspections every five years of all the manhole vaults.”

Hickey said they took refuge from the cold inside Nico’s Pizzeria on State Street and were served complimentary pizza. They were allowed to re-enter the building shortly after 2 p.m., she said.

“We’re back to normal except for National Grid still working on the corner,” Hickey said. “We did miss out on our big lunch rush because that’s our peak time in sales. But we’re happy everyone is safe.”

Stella said if people see smoke coming from a manhole they should report it to National Grid by calling 800-867-5222.

In 2012 and 2013, downtown Albany experienced several manhole explosions. One incident caused thousands of residents in the area to temporarily lose power. Another incident damaged nearby property, forced the evacuation of buildings and closed several streets.

Reach Gazette reporter Haley Viccaro at 395-3114, [email protected] or @HRViccaro on Twitter.

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