NY Times

The man who was killed, George Dillman, 26, had been working in the manhole, filled with 120-volt power lines, at the intersection of Euclid and Sutter Avenues in East New York.

His partner, Craig Penney, 28, had just returned to their truck when black smoke started pouring out of the manhole and a buzzing could be heard, according to Preston Fulmore, 54, who was standing near his parked truck talking on his cellphone when the accident occurred.

Mr. Penney grabbed a ladder from the utility truck and lowered it into the manhole, which was about 6 feet deep, 5 feet wide and 10 feet long, a fire official said.

"As soon as he put the ladder in there, that ladder ignited," Mr. Fulmore said. "That ladder burned like paper."

Mr. Penney grabbed a fire extinguisher from his truck, but could not get close to the manhole because of the heat and smoke, Mr. Fulmore said.

"He's hollering, 'George, George, oh my God,' " he said of Mr. Penney. "He fell to his knees crying."

Mr. Fulmore said he was trying to pull Mr. Penney away from the manhole when they heard an explosion. Mr. Penney was taken to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center with minor burns. Mr. Dillman was declared dead at the scene, but the specific cause of death was unclear.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation. Con Edison officials said it was the first time in more than four years that one of its electrical workers had died on the job.

Firefighters and other emergency workers went to the scene after the emergency call came in at 12:24 p.m., officials said.

Deputy Chief David Jakubowski of the Fire Department said the flames coming out of the manhole were taller than the height of a Con Edison truck, or about 8 feet high.

It took two hours before Con Edison could cut power to the manhole and the surrounding neighborhood, forcing rescuers to wait to retrieve Mr. Dillman. Power to neighboring homes and businesses was restored later in the day.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the deceased worker and his injured colleague," Con Edison said in a statement.

Sonny Jelovcic, 60, Mr. Dillman's supervisor, said Mr. Dillman was " liked by everyone, friendly, humble, always with a smile on his face." He added: "He was looking to advance in his position. I don't think anything would have stood in his way."

He said that Mr. Dillman lived in Nassau County, and had plans to get married.

Joe Flaherty, a spokesman for the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, said that Mr. Dillman celebrated his 26th birthday last week.

"People don't realize, but there are a lot of people who get burned on the job," Mr. Flaherty said. "You throw a switch and the light comes on. But it takes a whole lot to make sure that happens and people take that for granted."

Jose Reyes, 28, who lives about a block from the site of the explosion, said he was walking down Sutter Avenue from a barber shop when he saw thick black smoke covering two blocks.

When he was about a block away, Mr. Reyes said, he heard a loud explosion that shook his building. Flames were shooting out of the manhole, which is near a Valero gas station, he said, adding that Con Edison had been doing work there for about a week.

Other neighbors said that when they heard the explosion, their buildings shook and the lights flickered; some reported problems with their electricity.

Friends and relatives gathered at the home of Mr. Dillman's parents in College Point, Queens, on Thursday.

Matt Teepe, 40, a longtime neighbor and friend of the family, said he had known Mr. Dillman well.

He remembered Mr. Dillman as a generous, "outgoing" and "bubbly" boy — and said he was the same as a man.

"He would cut my grass. He wouldn't even tell me he was doing it. I would hear the lawn mower going and it was him," Mr. Teepe said.

Many who knew him said that Mr. Dillman had long been interested in electrical work, a trade he learned from his father, who was also an electrician.

Mr. Teepe said that Mr. Dillman loved his job with Con Ed. "That was it," Mr. Teepe said. "He found his talent in life, and that was it."

Mr. Teepe recalled Mr. Dillman's telling him the good news about getting the Con Ed position. "He said, 'I finally made it!' "

Jeffrey Ramos, 25, an attendant at a gas station in the neighborhood who said he had known Mr. Dillman since boyhood, said that about two weeks ago, Mr. Dillman was in the gas station lobby telling him and another friend about how precarious his job could be.

"He was saying how his clothes were fireproof, but he's not, how a manhole could be dangerous," Mr. Ramos recalled. Mr. Dillman told him that "if he's working underground, and something, God forbid, happens, you know, you can't climb a ladder that fast."

Reporting was contributed by Sewell Chan, Jason Grant, Christine Hauser and Colin Moynihan.