Just another NY night.

So last night E and i had just finished eating dinner when we heard a commotion outside. I pulled back the curtain and saw a HAZMAT truck in front of our house. "That can't be good" I thought. So in true New Yorker form I opened the window and stuck my head out to see farther down the street and what I saw was this... Hmmm. Not good AT ALL. "ERIC! Come look at this! Our street is lined with Firemen!" I shouted. He poked his head out the window too. Then we grabbed the camera and joined our entire block of neighbors out on the street to find out what the heck was going on! The center of attention was a ways down the block so we ran down there. We asked a couple what was going on. They said "There's an underground electrical fire and they've evacuated a few buildings." Really, really NOT GOOD! So why are we all still standing here? Just then, smoke started seeping out of the edge of the nearby manhole and someone pointed out "Hey look! The water on the street is boiling!" That's when I got nervous and got the heck out of dodge. We retreated to our stoop a ways down the block, and it's a good thing. As soon as we got there, the manhole blew and an enormous smoke cloud exploded out of it! It kept coming out for a good 30 minutes. The NYFD and HAZMAT were out there till at least 10 pm (it all started around 7pm)
Just another night on old 38th Street.