Remarkable photo shows fire blasting from Omaha manholes

An Omaha resident took a remarkable photograph of fireballs erupting from manhole covers on Sunday night. The photo was posted to social network Reddit, where it quickly went viral.

What looks like a photo from the set of our favorite imaginary Stallone movie ("Fight Fire With Fists") is actually a real case of electrical fires gone wild. The below-ground inferno caused the flames to push the manhole covers sky-high. Parts of downtown Omaha plunged into darkness. Omaha.com reports that several thousand customers were initially without power, but that Omaha Public Power District worked to get that number down into the hundreds by Monday.

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OPPD Vice President Tim Burke told FOX42 that the fire may have been caused by the combination of dry, salty air and the city's recent snowfall. "My guess is that it’s been dry, unusually dry, and with the moisture we’ve had, we’ve probably had some moisture get into cable or tape."

Fortunately nobody was hurt in the darkness and fog. Police used their flashing lights and flares in place of traffic lights. Locals who were affected made the most of it, using lights from the mobile phones to help negotiate the darkness, according to Omaha.com.