This Marine survived a year and countless unseen bombs on the battlefields of Iraq -- but was nearly blown to bits by an explosive parking spot in Brooklyn!
Death-dodging Crown Heights leatherneck Nigel Edinborough -- who saw firsthand the powerful road side bombs in Iraq -- nar rowly escaped parking hell yesterday when a manhole exploded beneath his SUV moments after he found an open spot.
"It was like back in Iraq," said Edinborough, an eight-year military-veteran-turned-ironworker who returned from Iraq in 2005 after serving a year there.
His 2002 Ford Escape was incinerated less than two minutes after he hopped out at Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights at around 6:40 a.m.
"All I could think about was my wife and daughter -- I could've been in that car," said Edinborough.
The SUV, which Edinborough, 31, bought new and on which he had more than 87,000 miles, was torched along with his work tools, winter coat, pricey sound system and GPS after a series of manholes on the street exploded.
Last week, he and his wife, Peaches, had taken their week-old daughter, Nilah, to the doctor at around the same time of day, he said.
"She was really shook up," he said about his wife's reaction to his near-death experience. "She gave me a big hug."
Edinborough said moments after he had moved the doomed Ford to its new parking spot, he headed back into his apartment building nearby.
The elevator was broken, and he was walking the five floors to his apartment when he heard a loud explosion.
"Before I got upstairs, I heard a loud boom," he said.
He compared the sound to those he heard daily in Iraq, where roadside bombs are the scourge of military convoys.
"I didn't pay it no attention, but then I heard helicopters overhead and firetrucks, and turned on the news and I saw a vehicle on fire that looked like mine," he said.
By the time Edinborough raced back downstairs -- just 15 minutes after he moved the SUV -- it was simply a husk.
A spokeswoman for Con Edison said the power company responded to three manhole explosions on the block.
She believed the explosions could have been the result of melted snow and ice that had mixed with road salt to create electrically conductive runoff that shorted out several underground power boxes.
Greetings! Please see the recent Providence manhole puppy electrocution and please disseminate this vital public service to preclude more tragedies. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Blair
Just so you know, I confer with Con Edison's Stray Voltage and Public Affairs Units and contribute to Wet Nose Guide and New York Dog Chat.
HOW TO SLAY AN INVISIBLE DANGER.
Blair Sorrel, Founder
http://www.StreetZaps.com
Contact voltage is a chronic hidden hazard that can readily victimize an unsuspecting dog, walker, or both. No dog lover could possibly observe a more horrifying scene than witnessing his beloved pet instantaneously maimed or tragically electrocuted. When you exercise your pooch, please exercise greater prudence. Common outdoor electrical and metal fixtures may shock or even kill your vulnerable dog. And depending upon the current, the walker will be bitten and like poor Aric Roman, suffer permanently. But you can, indeed, self-protect.
Just start to adopt this simple strategy — EYEBALL THE BLOCK, AND AVOID A SHOCK. Take a few seconds and make your trajectory toward generally safer, free standing, non-conductive surfaces, ie., plastic, wood, cardboard. Intuit your dog’s cues and if it’s resistant, change directions. Work site perimeters may be live so try to elude them. If necessary, switch sides of the street or your hands when leading to skirt hazards. If you traverse the same route, you may memorize locations of potential dangers. Carry your pooch when in doubt. Consider indoor restroom products like PottyPark when external conditions are chancy or RopeNGo’s hardware-free leash and harness. And don’t rely on dog booties as a palliative as they will actually put your pet at even greater risk since the dog can’t tell you they’re leaking! To learn to more, please see StreetZaps. A safer walk is yours year round if you are willing to open to your eyes and mind to it.