A stretch of Coney Island in Brooklyn was thrown into chaos on Wednesday morning when multiple transformer poles came crashing down onto parked cars and burst into flames. The poles fell just before 7 a.m. on West 36th Street, between Surf Avenue and Mermaid Avenue, a residential block that sits just one street back from the ocean. What began as a sudden series of loud crashes quickly turned into a scene of fire and thick smoke, leaving neighbors shaken and a row of vehicles badly damaged.
The falling equipment landed directly on top of cars parked along the street, and both the transformers and several of the vehicles caught fire. Residents described a frightening sequence of loud booms followed by repeated popping and small explosions as the electrical equipment burned. Attempts to douse the flames with water appeared only to make matters worse, with each effort seeming to set off more popping and cracking from the damaged transformers.
One man who lives directly across the street said the noise was so violent that he initially thought something inside his own home had collapsed. He recounted hearing a first enormous boom, like a refrigerator crashing to the floor, and then looking out to see the transformers and cars engulfed in flames. He described a chaotic scene of explosions and sparks that made it clear this was no ordinary outage, and that approaching the fire was far too dangerous.
Despite the intensity of the fire and the destruction of several vehicles, no one was reported hurt. The bigger impact was felt on the electrical grid, where close to 900 Con Edison customers lost power as a result of the collapse. Among those affected were senior buildings and the nearby Seagate community, raising particular concern for older and more vulnerable residents left without electricity during a stretch of dangerous summer heat.
The block, being only one street from the water, had been buffeted by strong wind gusts throughout the morning. Some neighbors said the poles had been a source of worry for some time, telling reporters they had noticed their condition and feared something like this might eventually happen. For them, the collapse was less a total shock than the realization of a long-standing concern about aging infrastructure on their street.
Con Edison crews were called in and worked for hours to bring the situation under control. Their task was a delicate one, as they had to lift the heavy poles off the crushed cars safely, clear away potentially dangerous debris and then begin the work of restoring service. The combination of live electrical equipment, burned vehicles and a busy residential block made the cleanup slow and painstaking as the day wore on.
By 5 p.m., much of the power had been restored, though about 150 customers still remained in the dark, braving the heat without electricity. The utility said it was investigating exactly how and why the poles came down in the first place. For residents, there was a mix of relief and unease, including one neighbor who realized he had nearly parked in the very spot where the poles later fell, and who said he was thankful he had chosen somewhere else.