NEWTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A manhole explosion caused widespread power outages in Newton on Thursday, drawing an emergency response and keeping Eversource crews busy for several hours.
The incident happened around 3:30 p.m. near the intersection of Walnut Street and Lakewood Road in the Newton Highlands area, according to police.
Ultimately, more than 6,000 energy customers in Newton lost power. Traffic lights were also temporarily without power in many spots, according to Newton Police Chief John Carmichael.
No one was injured.
Lindsay Delevingne said she and her husband were working from home when their Zoom calls suddenly went out.
“We tried to get out WiFi with our hotspots and that didn’t work either,” Delevingne said.
Delevingne said she and her husband ended up driving around their neighborhood, finding “everything seemed to be black.”
Area residents Paul Gross also lost power.
“All of a sudden our power went out,” he said. “People who were walking by noticed smoke and flames coming out of the manhole cover and everyone backed away.”
Power had been restored to nearly all customers impacted by outages by 9 p.m. Thursday, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
Officials said the cause of the incident remained under investigation.
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