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"Suddenly, I heard 'Pow!'" Says Shella Eckhouse. "There was debris falling and steam flying in. I was covered in mud."
Eckhouse, a Manhattan resident who works in a jewelry store, was driving a Citi Bike to a courtyards course. training in Chelsea when the pipe exploded a few meters. She said she "pedaled so fast" to run away as quickly as possible. A few minutes later, she had parked her Citi Bike, headed to the gym, wiped it off and started her classes.
More than 100 firefighters and medical personnel, as well as 25 fire trucks, responded to the scene. Five people suffered minor injuries, the New York Fire Department said.
Firefighters and police cordoned off an area of four blocks around the site on Fifth Avenue and 21st Street. They evacuated neighboring buildings and checked the manholes in the area.
"It's big," said a spokeswoman for the FDNY. "This is not smoke, it's steam, but there must always be something where the buildings are evacuated."
A company spokesman Electricity Con Edison said the crews were testing asbestos "and other contaminants" in the area.
"As a precaution, it is advisable for anyone in the vicinity of the break and covered with equipment to put their clothes and shower," said the spokesman in a statement
. The day
The explosion left a large crater on Fifth Avenue and 21st Street and a smaller hole on Fifth Avenue and 20th Street. The 20-inch steam pipe that caused the blast was 1932, according to Con Edison. However, a representative of Con Edison said that there is no expiration date on steam pipes and age does not necessarily play a role when they fail.
Ernest Hinnant,
who works in the area in a work company, left the subway in Union Square just before 6:45 am. He noticed the steam but thought it was coming from a restaurant. When he turned to Fifth Avenue, he saw a plume of clouds and heard the roar of the steam.
"There is a kind of solid substance that comes out of the cloud and covers the ground.In the beginning, I honestly thought that the solid substance was ash and that it was a fire, but that it was a fire. is just gray and not ash, "said Mr. Hinnant
."
The explosion disrupted the morning shuttles of runners on the R and W metro lines. These trains were bypassed 23rd Street in both directions because of the incident, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Ms. Eckhouse, shaken, followed her exercise course after the explosion, but she was some little philosopher about what had happened. New York City, "she said." Anything can happen anytime. "
Write to Zolan Kanno-Youngs at [email protected] and Charles Passy at [email protected]
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