Update: 4:35pm While three cars caught fire after lightning hit power lines and a gas main ruptured, Con Edison crews were able to find the valves to the gas main and shut them off to prevent neighboring homes from exploding. The owner of the cars that caught fire said his lights had flickered and reported seeing heavy sparks followed by 12'-high flames from his window, according to a WPIX 11 news report. Update: Out of 625 customers that lost electrical power, all have been restored as of 9:18 a.m. said Con Ed Spokesperson Allan Drury, though nine customers on Winfield Avenue are still without gas service. He said that service was expected back by tonight.
"Early this morning, a 13 kv power line came down on Winfield Avenue near the intersection of Mamaroneck Avenue. This resulted in damage to an underground natural gas line and a fire," said Drury, continuing, "We originally had 625 customers without electrical service. All but 82 were restored by 5 a.m. Those 82 were all restored by 9:18 a.m."
According to Drury, last night's lightening storm may have brought down wires that caused the fire, which destroyed two cars and damaged a third car. There were no injuries reported.
A lightning strike caused an early morning fire at Mamaroneck and Winfield Avenues this morning, keeping fire crews and Con Edison workers busy. Luckily, the blaze, which also led to the damage of a gas line, caused no injuries, according to CBS New York.
The 1:00 a.m. blaze was sparked by a lightning bolt striking wires, according to CBS New York. The spark set off a fire, which then spread to several cars and damaged a gas main.
“We pulled up it was minor, one wire down, something we deal with all the time,” Mamaroneck Fire Chief Robert Pecchio told CBS New York's Kathryn Brown. “Then it turned into a car fire, then a fully involved car fire, two fully involved car fires, three car fires and almost a house fire and then we realized that natural gas was burning in the ground.'”
Con Ed crews are continuing their repairs today. Stay tuned for updates from Patch.
