ALBANY— Anni Cole was only a few feet away at the corner of Chapel and Columbia streets when the deafening sound of an underground explosion rocked the downtown neighborhood Wednesday, sending manhole covers flying with a fireball in the air.

Cole, who works for a downtown law firm and bar in the area, said that within moments, acrid smoke filled the air.

"It made you sick and want to gag when it was in your mouth," she said, recounting the confluence of events that occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Richard Medvetz, a controller with the law firm Dreyer Boyajian, said he went to look at the electrical panel after the lights in the office started to flicker around 3:10 p.m. Within three or four minutes, he heard a sound that "literally shook the building," he said.

"It sounded like something landed on the roof," he said, noting that the saw about four smaller explosions of manhole covers.

The explosions forced officials to shutdown streets and several office buildings on North Pearl Street were evacuated. There were no reported injuries following the blast, which happened at 2:52 p.m. at the corner of Steuben and Pearl streets, according to Fire Chief Robert Forezzi.

The city ordered the evacuations of buildings on North Pearl Street between State and Columbia streets. Some buildings on Eagle and Pine streets were also closed.

National Grid crews were on the scene, dealing with the aftermath of the utility fire.

The company cut electrical service to a number of downtown buildings.

Mayor Jerry Jennings said the city and utility companies will need to look into the infrastructure under the ground to determine if there are widespread problems.

"We're going to have to learn from this," Jennings said.

The Albany County Judicial Center was evacuated and closed. County officials said a fire in the sewer system outside the building caused smoke to be drawn into the building's air intake system.

"For the protection and safety of those in the building, Sheriff Craig Apple and I determined this had to be done," County Executive Dan McCoy said.

The police have set up a mobile command station on North Pearl Street.

The blast caused lights to flicker in City Hall and caused a building on Lodge Street to shake.

Forezzi said at least a half-dozen manhole covers were blown off the streets.

Patrick Stella, a spokesman for National Grid said the explosion was caused by a fault on an electrical cable.

He said utility crews are working to make repairs and are testing for natural gas fumes.

He could not say immediately when repairs would be done. But no one lost power because of the blast and no one was injured, he said.

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