New York City Sky Lit Up After Transformer Fire in Queens

Much of New York City’s night sky was illuminated for a few minutes with a green-blue-turquoise light after a transformer reportedly exploded at a Con Edison energy facility in Queens around 9 p.m. on Thursday.

A local CBS affiliate highlighted reactions on Twitter with images and video of the event’s effects in its report.

Something is happening in Manhattan or Queens… like an explosion pic.twitter.com/LUd4m04lnN

— Zair Montes (@zairmontes) December 28, 2018

View from my roof insane pic.twitter.com/ekLyolAPO5

— kjones4215 (@kjones4215) December 28, 2018

Transformer explosion at Con Edison facility in Astoria, Queens tonight. pic.twitter.com/UAZkuIu0jm

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) December 28, 2018

#UWS upper west side Manhattan what the hell just happened in Central Park to make the sky light up like this??? pic.twitter.com/6yqnCBzHTF

— Cleo Stiller (@Cleomsf) December 28, 2018

UFO in the skies of NYC? #nyc #newyorkcity pic.twitter.com/PNv53tqURT

— Ankur A (@CryptoTraderAnk) December 28, 2018

What’s happening in the sky over NYC? pic.twitter.com/v1V4cbH2Jl

— John Carney (@carney) December 28, 2018

Was on an Amtrak. Beautiful and horrifying pic.twitter.com/jqa1UutSGO

— Monuments(Gabe) (@Monumentsmusic) December 28, 2018

This is Astoria, Queens right now. The power went out temporarily, there was a vibrating noise, and the sky went blue with fumes and fire. #nyc #newyork #conedison pic.twitter.com/bgtV1p5O70

— Maria (@maraki987) December 28, 2018

Uh…lights just flickered in Astoria and sky is like daylight, what’s going on? pic.twitter.com/lRo9TiyQoe

— Carleton English (@carletonenglish) December 28, 2018

(Was like this in a normally pitch-black sky, for a few minutes.) pic.twitter.com/C2ZyD2BWKJ

— Anil Dash (@anildash) December 28, 2018

#explosion in #Queens or #Manhattan, power surge across Queens, hope no injuries pic.twitter.com/BHN3Ybfq9U

— Izzy Chester (@IzzyChester1) December 28, 2018

Massive blue light over Queens. Crazy!!! What in the world?!?!?!?! @NYCMayor pic.twitter.com/Z14WDNClIX

— Rich Villodas (@richvillodas) December 28, 2018

Entire sky lit up pic.twitter.com/uQVnKifRF2

— George Martinez (@gmartinez100) December 28, 2018

A local NBC affiliate reported:

Con Edison says a couple of transformers tripped offline at the substation at 20th Avenue and 32nd Street, sparking a fire.

The explosion lit up the sky so brightly in neighborhoods like Astoria and Queens that it briefly appeared to be daytime, residents reported. Smoke arose from the source of the blue light, visible from as far as Manhattan.

No injuries have been reported, and local authorities are asking people to avoid the location of the explosion at 20th Avenue and 31st Street in Astoria.

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