Breaking: Smoke Plumes On Argyle Road Sparked By Transformer Fire, Says FDNY

An underground transformer fire is spewing smoke clouds up and down Argyle road this rainy morning, near the Cortelyou Public Library and P.S. 139.

Firefighters were called to the address 322 Argyle Road after 10am on Monday, March 27, said an FDNY Spokesperson. “A neighbor knocked on our door,” said a firefighter on Argyle road this morning (the fire station is around the corner on Cortelyou Road).

When we arrived on the scene plumes of black smoke were billowing from a contained spot on the ground, framed by firetrucks, caution tape, and National Grid trucks. The smoky, burning smell wafted all the way down to Coney Island Avenue.

Neighbors told BKLYNER that firefighters rang their doorbells to check on residents in the houses lining the block and that some had lost power. No injuries have been reported at this time.

Firefighters on Argyle Road this morning said that transformer fires tend to happen this time of the winter, triggered by runoff from salt and snowmelt. When we ventured onto the street, firefighters warned us to get far away from the manhole covers immediately.

The principal at P.S. 139 was also on the scene, meeting with Fire Department officials to check the school’s carbon monoxide detectors. As of 11am, the school is not being evacuated, but we will continue to follow as the story develops.

This is the second reported electrical fire on the block this winter. On February 7, a more dramatic manhole fire shut down the Q train at Cortelyou Road and caused 56 neighbors to lose power.

And just last week, neighbor Steve Alberts was jarred awake at 3am by the sounds of explosions coming from a manhole on East 18th Street between Newkirk & Foster Avenue.

“When I woke up, I noticed big explosions coming from a manhole. Shock and awe. Like a KISS concert,” wrote Alberts.

Luckily, no one was hurt. At first, he thought the explosions were intentional, but ConEd later confirmed that manhole fires were responsible.

I guess the City of New York felt it was important to start blowing shit up inside a manhole outside my apt building in THE THREE O CLOCK AM HOUR last night. And it continues consistently in to this morning. It would be more fun if they were cranking God of Thunder along to it. #nyc #noisepollution #loudestblockinbrooklyn #KISS

A post shared by Steve Alberts (@steve_news_network) on Mar 22, 2017 at 4:12am PDT