Steam Pipe Explosion - Manhattan

What a scare today!

I work near Grand Central Station in NY and this evening we were told to evacuate the building. We were not anxious at all because we get a lot of these fire alarm announcements - none serious. However, this was the first announcement where they said evacuate. The announcer kept repeating the need to leave, even saying "leave immediately, this is an emergency." That definitely got us moving.

We walked down 9 flights of stairs to get outside, and looked up to see clouds and clouds of smoke - it looked as if a building was on fire. The street was in chaos - crowds were outside, people were taking pics, some people were crying, firing engines and police cars were racing to the scene, I even saw some people covered in mud.

I tried to call family but the lines were busy; however, thanks to the Blackberry I was able to get a few emails out. As I was walking and looking, a gentleman asked me what was going on. We chatted for a bit and both commented that this event really brought back memories. Quite scary, moving and confusing.

I understand that one person has died and there are several injuries, but apparently there was no foul play.

Thank God for life. Hope everyone is OK.