a video
Just before dusk today, three fire trucks showed up outside our apartment building.
They didn't rush in or anything, so I pretty quickly ruled out the possibility that our apartment was about to burn down. But then they just stood around, staring at a minivan parked on the Broadway -- but why?
Eventually, I figured out that we were hearing a muffled explosion at regular intervals, like every 5 or six seconds. And that they seemed to be coming not from the minivan, but from the steel grate below its front tires.
Once it got dark, you could see the blue flash of a LOT of electricity arcing across some gap. Then the fire department went its merry way, leaving two Con-Edison vans.
In the krappy(tm) video above, you can just see the second spark (right as Con-Ed guy #2 closes the van door). Not very dramatic, I know.
7:22, The spark is still firing -- every 5-6 seconds -- and the Con-Ed guys are sitting in their vans.
Update: 7:39, one of those big elephant trucks has arrived to suck the water out of the hole. The spark is still firing, but now its supplemented by the sound of a truck-size wet/dry vacuum.
By Psydeshow on March 13, 2004 at 7:22pm