Some of our readers wrote to tell us about a loud, window-shaking boom they heard in the Spruce Hill area near 46th and Locust on Friday morning, shortly before 7 a.m., and were wondering if it was some kind of an explosion. So here’s what we found out: Police say the noise came from a blown transformer near 46th and Locust Streets, which caused temporary power loss in some households in the area.
No injuries were reported, according to police.
May 6th, 2014 at 1:58 pm
Last week’s transformer explosion was directly across from my house. This morning there was another explosion–it sounded exactly the same, maybe a block west of us.
May 6th, 2014 at 9:51 pm
I heard the one this morning too, around 6ish.
May 7th, 2014 at 10:52 pm
The second one was a blown fuse, according to the PECO person who was there working on it later that morning. There was also a dead squirrel directly below the fuse box. Not sure if the squirrel was the cause or just in the wrong place at the wrong time. This explosion was preceded by a bright flash and then the boom. A neighbor immediately called 911 and a firetruck was there within a few minutes.
May 7th, 2014 at 10:53 pm
Sorry — forgot to mention — this second one was at the intersection of Melville and Locust.
May 8th, 2014 at 2:45 pm
A squirrel fell victim to the first one, too. Thanks for clarifying about the second explosion.
May 8th, 2014 at 3:15 pm
How do you know that the squirrel was a victim? I understand that several in the neighborhood heard a shout of “Bullwinkle Akbar” moments before the explosion.