A manhole fire cut off power to nearly 50 buildings and a public school on West 122nd Street in Harlem Tuesday afternoon. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Gustavo Solis

HARLEM — Nearly 50 buildings and a public school on West 122nd Street lost power following a manhole fire Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

The blaze started at about 10 a.m. at West 122nd Street and Lenox Avenue and was still not under control as of 12:30 p.m., FDNY and Con Edison officials said.

Power was turned off to 46 buildings between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, a Con Ed spokesman said.

P.S. 242 was among the buildings without power and an early dismissal was planned, according to the spokesman. The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There were no injuries and officials were not sure when power would be restored.

Parent Ronald Ewool got a call from the school soon after the power outage and was advised to pick up his daughter from school anytime before 2:30 p.m., he said.

His daughter, Alicia Ewool, who is in first grade, was in the cafeteria when the fire started, he said.

“The students were kind of scared because all the lights went off, but there were lights from the sun,” she said. "I'm upset because I didn’t want to leave."

Manhole fires tend to be more prevalent after big snows because of salt leaking into underground electrical systems and corroding wires.