Con Edison Transformer Fire in Queens Turns Sky Eerie Color, Lights up Social Media

An electrical transformer explosion at a Con Edison facility in Queens turned the New York City sky an eerie electric blue Thursday night, prompting a flurry of concern on social media from the city’s residents.

According to a tweet from the New York Police Department, a transformer exploded at the utility company’s Astoria location just after 9 p.m. It’s unclear if there were any injuries at this point, or how many people would lose power due to the incident.

The explosion turned the sky a bright blue, which understandably prompted people to worry something more sinister was going on, taking to social media to share their photos and videos of the phenomenon.

“My daughter saw these crazy blue lights in sky over Queens from the train!” one user tweeted.

Another shared stunning photos of the skyline, captioning them, “Fire emergency in Astoria, queens.”

Others took the opportunity to joke about it being the possible end of the world.

“aurora borealis. at this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within queens new york,” one user wrote, adding a corresponding Simpsons GIF.

“Astoria got one of the craziest gender reveals,” another joked alongside a video of the blue sky.

Another made an Avengers: Infinity War joke, writing, “Thanos is getting Queens outta here first. I personally would’ve started with Newark, but get it how you live.”

Further details about the explosion were not immediately available.

Photo credit: Twitter/ @viking_gal