Power Outage, Manhole Fires Disrupt Schools, Businesses

– Allison Goldsberry

An electrical fire beneath the streets outside of Medford Square caused two manhole covers to blow up into the air and disrupted power for thousands of customers in South Medford and the Hillside late Friday morning.

The Columbus Elementary and Curtis-Tufts schools are among the 7,000 customers who lost power. School Superintendent Roy Belson said because of a back up system in place, there was “no real disruption” and the school day continued on as it normally would, including afterschool programs.

Several residents reported seeing smoke and flames pouring out of manholes at Main and Emerson streets. Medford Deputy Fire Chief Edward O’Brien told Boston.com that the blasts occurred around 10AM and sent one manhole cover twenty-five feet into the air.

There were no injuries reported and the cause of the fire is still under investigation. A spokeswoman for National Grid said that while some people have had their power restored, others might not have power for another few hours.

South Medford resident Jim Morse, who lost power, ran outside to check out the situation and took some pictures just after the fire broke out: