Emergency crews rushed to the scene of a manhole fire in Midwood Thursday.

A News 12 crew on the scene caught the explosion on camera at the corner of East Eighth Street and Foster Avenue around 5:30 a.m.

The manhole erupted on and off for about a half-hour, which prompted NYPD officers to temporarily block the street.

Residents said this wasn't the first time this particular manhole went up in flames, but that this time was the worst it had been.

"It was just a lot of popping and banging, which you can hear. I thought it was either fireworks or gunshots or something," said Chief Barbaro, who lives on the block. "I was nervous. I usually sleep with the window open, and I had to close the window because I have kids and animals upstairs."

Con Edison said there were no reported outages because of the explosion. However, there are more than 1,500 outages citywide, with many of them related to the weather.

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