Newark Sees Smoking Manholes, Power Outages, Canceled Concert

NEWARK, NJ — Smoking manholes. Power outages for 1,500 customers. A canceled concert and poetry festival at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. These were some of the complications seen in Newark after an underground electrical fire slammed the city last weekend.

Although 95 percent of electrical power was restored to the downtown area as of Monday morning, lingering complications from Saturday’s fire continued to affect the Brick City, municipal officials said.

“Center Street from Route 21 to Broad Street is closed,” the Newark Department of Public Safety stated at 7 a.m. on Monday. “For this morning’s rush hour, drivers are urged to leave early to allow more time during their commute and to plan alternative routes due to anticipated delays.”

The blaze, which was later traced to an underground, high-voltage cable, cut out power to about 1,500 customers, including dorms at Rutgers University and a local YMCA, New Jersey News 12 reported.

PSE&G and Newark police and fire responders responded to multiple calls of “smoke emanating from manhole covers,” city officials said. (See video below)

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) tweeted that the blackout forced the cancelation of an Eric Johnson concert and the multi-day Dodge Poetry Fest, which continued on Sunday.

Weekend traffic was hampered from Central Avenue to Commerce Street and from Norfolk Street to Broad Street. Traffic signals were knocked out in the following areas:

• From Central to Broad, Halsey, Washington, University, Martin Luther King Blvd., Lock, Norfolk
• From Warren to Washington, University and Martin Luther King Blvd.
• From Raymond to Blvd. to Washington, Halsey and Broad Street
• From Broad to Prudential Center, New and Rector streets

PSE&G said that the incident didn't appear to be gas related; no injuries were reported, NBC New York stated.

• See related article: Manhole Explosions in New Jersey: Dangerous and Frequent

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Photo: YouTube / RLS Metro Breaking News