Giant transformer explodes in New York City - GIFs and photo

Giant transformer explosion yesterday in NYC. Con Ed Power Plant in Astoria, Queens. Described by Con Ed as "a brief electrical fire". The New York Police Department tweeted: "No injuries, no fire, no evidence of extraterrestrial activity".

You can see how it turned the city night sky blue:

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Closer:

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https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net..._explosion.jpg


Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...679#post123655
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...845#post119330
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...479#post117039
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...392#post116759
Dump truck hydraulic explosion
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...6845#post84468
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...3329#post98769
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...062#post115400
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...339#post116489
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...5851#post82647
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...5830#post82618
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...2518#post96512

The jokes on the tweerter machine were flying fast and furious. My fave: " Enjoying the view of the rare Astoria Borealis"

Since there were no injuries or deaths I'll say it couldn't happen to a nicer place. NYFD and PD don't need to have to deal with casualties

Way back when I was a young kid, a couple of somewhat older kids hopped the fence into the local transformer substation (because forbidden places are always the sweetest right?) Well, one kid was luckier than the other .. he lived. Minus about half of his arms, but he lived. Local teevee played that story on very heavy rotation, and one of my classmates (this was about 4th grade) was the younger brother of the one who lived...

We all got the message.

There is a sub station not too far from me that apparently is in the flight path of the Geese as they come in for a landing to spend the night at pond. A couple of years ago EIP had to clean out several unfortunate critters that failed to read the warning signs on the fence. I'm sure that if one of the activist organisations heard about it they would be demanding that the sub station be relocated.

Another transformer explosion.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jon

Another transformer explosion.

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And here we have yet another camera capturing the explosion while being hand held. I still have problems understanding how there always seems to be cameras aiming at just the correct spot to capture these things. Was the original subject matter in the view area the guy with his back turned to the camera or was there another topic of interest which caused the user to aim his camera in that direction for a couple seconds before the explosion. Then there is the one from the window also a hand held device. I wonder if somewhere there are cameras viewing me on my place

In the first video the man in the foreground is looking at the transformer. Blowing it up to full screen size shows what appears to be a large arc or flames coming out of one side of the transformer assembly. It's very low-res and only visible for a couple of frames, but there was Attachment 30609 something going on to bring attention to it.

What kind of place needs window security bars that high up?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McDesign

What kind of place needs window security bars that high up?

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Those bars would most likely be there to prevent someone from trying to jump out of them or a child falling from a window but it is difficult to tell is the spacing is narrow enough to prevent a child's head from passing through.

I bet the guy in the red car in the second video had to clean his front seat when he got home! If the first blast didn't get him the second one did.

Years ago, my buddy and I were coming back from Nogales, AZ and stopped at a gas station for fuel. While my buddy went in to pay, I was looking off to the south and heard a hell of a bang behind me. I turned around in time to see a kid running from a small substation and a body falling from a transformer. I went running over there, horrified that some kid had managed to climb up there and get fried. Turned out it was a chimp dressed in kid clothes. I can still see one of his hands smoking on the power line. That gave me nightmares for a long time.