On February 27, 2014 at 1344 hours Hartsdale Fire Department received the first of numerous 911 calls for the report of manhole explosion in the front of 100 East Hartsdale Ave. Hartsdale Fire Headquarters dispatched a full assignment. First arriving units reported they had an active manhole fire with wide scale power outages in the area. Members began to secure the scene in the immediate vicinity and facilitate evacuations. Car 2172 Arrived on location and established East Hartsdale Command. A request was made to have Con Edison Emergency crews respond expeditiously. No sooner had first responders established a safety zone, when the second of two CO explosions rocked the street, breaking car windows and sending manhole covers flying. HFD crews then turned their attention to the occupants of the numerous multiple dwellings that line the street along East Hartsdale Ave. Members used multi-gas detection devices to confirm that no toxic fumes or gases were entering the buildings at the lower and subterranean levels. No combustible gases were found to be present. At 1401 hours, Command reported that a ConEd supervisor was on scene. Command received a verbal report of occupants trapped inside an elevator at 119 E.H.A. due to the power outage. E-171 crew were assigned the task of rescuing those occupants. It was determined that those occupants had been removed prior to HFD members making contact. E-170 and TL-54 crews stretched two lines and secured a positive water supply. At 1441 hours, Command was transferred from Car 2172 to Car 2171. A Unified Command was established between HFD, GPD and ConEd. Additional resources were requested from Greenville and Fairview Fire Districts to help mitigate the heavy call volume and expanding scope of the incident. White Plains FD TL-6 and Elmsford E-137 stood by HFD station 2 to cover additional calls in the district.
At 1700 hours, Command was terminated and the situation was under control. In all, HFD and the surrounding Mutual Aid Departments would respond to over 10 alarms during the 3 hour period.