Pepco was ordered by D.C.’s utility regulator to update its training regimen for manhole inspectors days before an explosion in Northwest charred an automobile and left thousands of residents without power.

The training directive from the Public Service Commission was issued Friday. Late Monday night, a manhole fire and explosion on 14th Street near Clifton Street set a sport utility vehicle ablaze, left more than 5,000 people without electricity and closed streets through the Tuesday afternoon rush.