A fire that broke out on a subway work train at the Astor Place station in Manhattan has injured about a dozen people and shut down the 4 and 6 trains, according to Eyewitness News ABC7NY. The station reported that the fire started around 2:30 a.m. on a train that was being used to vacuum litter and debris from the tracks, and that hours later the blaze was still not under control.
Seven transit workers were being treated for smoke inhalation, along with five firefighters who were also getting medical attention, ABC7NY reported, accounting for about a dozen people hurt in all. The work train had caught fire on the express track, and people who were on the platform had to get out quickly amid the chaos.
Smoke filled the Astor Place station and drifted out onto the street, at times making it hard to see the fire trucks through the haze, according to ABC7NY. More than a dozen emergency vehicles were on site, and crews geared up and walked into the thick smoke to reach the burning southbound train, with hoses run down from their trucks into the station.
Service on the 4 and 6 lines was suspended in both directions between Grand Central-42nd Street and the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall stops because of the fire department activity at Astor Place, ABC7NY reported. Riders were urged to transfer at Grand Central, Fulton Street or earlier in Brooklyn, or to use the M15, M102 or M103 buses during the morning commute.
On the surface, Lafayette Street was closed northbound between 8th Street and 4th Avenue in the East Village, the station reported. It added that a separate water main break nearby, on 14th Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A, had also shut parts of 1st Avenue and 14th Street, further snarling the area for drivers.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation, with the fire department preparing to hold a news conference, according to ABC7NY. The station said it would bring the FDNY's update live as crews continued working to bring the fire under control.