NStar worker injured, but expected to survive the flash fire under Freeport Street.

Flaming manhole this morning.

The Crimson reports on flaming manholes early this morning:

A fire started underground on the corner of Mass Ave and Dunster Street was visible through several manholes in the Square this morning. Harvard's Holyoke Center, Cambridge Savings Bank, Au Bon Pain, and other nearby institutions were evacuated, and automobile access to the Square had been severely restricted by the Cambridge Fire Department. ...

NeutralSurface took photos, including the one on the right.

Channel 5 reports. NECN has video on "the underground mechanical failure" as well (great fire-AND-ice NECN screen capture).

Sushiesque was on the scene later in the morning taking photos of the aftermath:

Mishka gets the day off.

Michael: On second thought, maybe I'll go to Yale.

Crispyfoods captures Old Flameful outside the Pit:

Not again!

Then again, it has been awhile since manholes last exploded in the North End. Also, despite the cool headline, nobody died from the geysers of flame, although, as you might expect, people were none too happy.

Channel 5 has some video.

The Pulitzer for Best Explanatory Paragraph goes to the Globe for really bringing the story home - especially for all its readers in Kansas:

The neighborhood, which is popular with tourists looking for an Italian meal, is also home to a number of college students.

Manhole explodes this afternoon on Needham Street near Rte. 9 in Newton (two blocks from Margalit, who is starting to wonder what the deal is with her neighborhood's karma).

Tires blown at coverless manhole on Nonantum Road in Brighton this morning.

#321 on a mobile phone or 888-359-9595. It's the Mass. Highway Department's new 24-hour report-a-killer-condition hotline:

Drivers are advised to pull onto the shoulder, completely out of travel lanes, before making a call.

You can also report dangerous conditions via the Web, although MassHighway says that page is only staffed during business hours.

Ed. snarky but still legitimate question: What if the dangerous condition is on the turnpike, the Tobin Bridge, etc.? Will MassHighway wake somebody up at the turnpike authority to fix the problem?

Two more, in the same basic area on the Southeast Expressway as the one that got wedged in a bus yesterday; one driver lost control and slammed into a Jersey barrier.

Couple this with Josh Simons's HazMat game (identify hazardous cargos by the numbers on the placards on the back of the trucks) and you get a new way to spice up the commute: "Say, Bob, whadaya think would happen if a flying manhole cover sliced through that truck with the '3' hazardous placard?"

Earlier:
Oh, we thought we were just supposed to check manholes on 128.
Route of doom.

Manhole cover gets wedged under bus on Southeast Expressway.

Update:
Two more go flying.

Earlier:
Route of doom.