Return Of Electricity Sparks Fire Concerns

When power returned unexpectedly to huge swaths of the neighborhood yesterday, it brought fires with it as electricity surged into broken power lines and flooded homes.

In the video above, Sheepshead Bites reader Marina captured a tree on East 21st Street between Avenue Y and Avenue Z that burst into flames when a broken power line draped across it came alive.

In Manhattan Beach, much of it still under inches of water and with homes flooded, the return of power led to what one described as an “underground explosion.” Police were reportedly telling people to leave their homes and blocked off sections as fire crews responded across the area.

Homes in Manhattan Beach and Sheepshead Bay lit up, and sparks flew from home power lines and caused basement fires.

If your power has not yet been restored, make sure to manually shut off power to your home using your circuit breaker. If your circuit breaker was soaked from the floods, you should have an electrician evaluate it before turning it back on. If you do it yourself, use rubber gloves and rubber soled shoes, and only turn individual sections of your home so you don’t overload your system.

According to the Con Edison outage map, thousands in the area are still without power. While the map does not currently show estimated restoration times, you can get that by using the tool here.