A dramatic video circulating on social media shows a car narrowly avoiding disaster as it drives over a manhole just moments before it explodes in a Brooklyn neighborhood, sending a fireball shooting into the sky.
The incident occurred on Central Avenue in Bushwick and was first shared on the Citizen app, before being reposted widely across other platforms. The footage shows several cars moving along the road, with one vehicle passing over the manhole seconds before it erupts.
As the explosion sends a towering fireball into the air, startled pedestrians are seen fleeing the area, some screaming as they try to get to safety. According to the New York Post, the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) confirmed that Con Edison responded to the scene. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported.
The same report noted that just two hours after this explosion, another manhole fire broke out nearby at Lewis Avenue and Pulaski Street, prompting an emergency response from EMS teams. The second blast occurred less than a mile from the first and came dangerously close to nearby businesses and parked vehicles.
Earlier this year, a similar case in Texas drew attention after a video showed eerie “green flames” emerging from a manhole at a college campus.
“All the active fire that we know of that we have been able to identify, it is gone, it is out,” Deputy Chief Wilson said during a press briefing at the time. “We can’t rule out there may be some small areas with still some smoldering fire underground, but there is no evidence at all that there is any active fire.”
One user on X posted the clip with the caption: “Green/yellow flames are blowing out of the manhole covers from the sewers.”
