Two manhole fires caused by an underground issue damaged parked cars and knocked out power to surrounding apartment buildings near Northeastern University in Boston Wednesday.
The Northeastern Police Department warned of the response on St. Stephens Street, near Opera Place. The public was warned to avoid the area if possible, and those in the area were cautioned to stay indoors.
“They just said it was just a loud bang. I think people assumed it could have been an explosion," said Connor Velte, a Northeastern Student who heard the commotion.
“That’s the dining hall and you can see lots of students around luckily nobody was around but that is pretty scary. Pretty high-traffic area," he added.
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A Jeep Wrangler was parked on top of one of the manholes and is now totaled, according to its owner. Pieces of the bumper were strewn in the street after the fire.
The owner said and several of her friends got these emails from the University telling everyone to avoid the area and stay inside. She was in class when it happened around 10 or 11 o’clock this morning and didn’t want to go on camera, but she said she’s in touch with Eversource and police to get this sorted out.
The city building inspector, police firefighters and utility crews remain on St. Stephens Street trying to clean up the mess. They said the issue is related to an electric cable failure. An Eversource representative said the significant rain we’ve had likely contributed to the problem. The utility is providing generators to restore power to the apartment buildings.
