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Smoking manholes on a Westchester street caused the evacuation of the County Court House and a police department building, officials said.
The incident happened in the area of the intersection of South Lexington Avenue and Martine Avenue on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at around 11 a.m., when smoking manholes caused high carbon monoxide levels, leading to the temporary evacuation of the County Court House and the White Plains Police Department, according to a Con Edison spokesperson.
The "manhole event" was caused by salt on the roads mixing with melting snow getting into underground electric delivery equipment, the spokesperson said, adding that there were no electric outages associated with the incident.
Both evacuations have since been lifted, officials said. No injuries were reported and no public safety operations were affected, according to White Plains Department of Public Safety Commissioner David Chong.
There was also no natural gas involvement or gas explosion, according to Con Edison.
Chong said the incident caused damage to the sidewalk and roadway along the Martine Avenue side of the Public Safety building.
The incident prompted White Plains Police to warn residents to stay away from the area earlier on Tuesday.
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