An explosion Monday night injured five Board of Public Utilities workers, according to a BPU spokesman.
The workers were injured in an explosion about 9:30 p.m. Monday, May 25, while working to restore electric service at a circuit at 8th and Nebraska in downtown Kansas City, Kansas, according to David Mehlhaff, BPU chief communications officer.
Two of the employees were released late Tuesday morning, one will likely be released on Wednesday and the other two may remain in the hospital for a few days, Mehlhaff stated.
The five BPU employees were taken to the University of Kansas Health System by Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department personnel.
The explosion happened during the restoration process. Mehlhaff stated that the nature of the repairs required underground crews, who began a check and started the restoration.
As the crews were trying to operate a switch at the intersection of 8th and Nebraska, the switch failed catastrophically, causing a large explosion and arc flash to rise from the manhole Monday night, he stated.
Along with the flash, oil was blasted out from the manhole and into the surrounding area, blanketing the personnel and equipment on site in extremely hot oil, he stated.
The BPU’s electric operations leaders arrived, additional BPU personnel took over the restoration efforts, and BPU environmental personnel handled the cleanup, the spokesman stated.
God bless all of them, may they have speedy recoveries.