Bright light in big city mystifies New Yorkers after transformer fire

"There was a boom and a bang and a flash of light," said Jim Long, a spokesman for Fire Department New York. The blue flashes that briefly lit up the night sky in the Astoria area of Queens, New York, shortly after 9 p.m. (0200 GMT) were caused by a power surge and electrical "arching" and sparked a transformer explosion and a small fire, said Con Edison spokesman Bob McGee.