An explosion at a Brooklyn substation caused a short power outage in New York City that affected residents across all five boroughs, including those it trapped in elevators.
Energy company Con Edison reported a short flicker in voltage on Thursday night due to equipment failure at the Farragut Substation in Brooklyn.
“Essentially, people saw a flicker in their lights for about a second, a little bit before midnight, and then voltage recovered, or went back to normal,” said Con Edison President Matt Ketschke, according to local outlet ABC 7.
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Video shows smoke rising from a Con Edison substation in Brooklyn. The company explained that an equipment failure caused the brief power outage that affected all five boroughs of New York City.
Crews were working on repairs to a faulty transmission line when the electrical mishap took place.
Witnesses claim a plume of smoke was visible rising out of the substation at the time of the equipment failure, and others reported the sound of an explosion.
The brief lapse in voltage resulted in several elevators across the city shutting down, trapping groups of individuals inside.
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A New York City Fire Department spokesperson said responders were called to “various” locations to rescue people trapped in elevators affected by the blackout, according to the New York Post.
Elevators at Grand Central Station were put out of service by the “Con Edison power problem,” Long Island Rail Road announced following the outage.
“Electrical equipment such as elevators and escalators are sensitive sometimes to momentary fluctuations of power,” Ketschke said.
A Con Edison truck is pictured as it is parked on the street during repair work in New York City. (Plexi Images/Glasshouse Images/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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He added,” Sometimes the systems need to be reset. We’ve been in contact with the New York City Department of Emergency Management, and they did have to conduct some elevator rescues.”
An investigation into the cause of the electrical failure has been launched and is ongoing.