Four thousand subway passengers had to be evacuated from subway cars when a track fire on the B/D lines disrupted service during the evening rush hour. And many of the passengers were stuck on the Manhattan Bridge, clueless as the MTA waited 20 minutes before explaining what had happened and sweltering as train cars lost air-conditioning. When we watched news coverage, passengers were glad to be out and noted that fellow straphangers were helping each other, but they roundly criticized the MTA for not saying anything while keeping them stalled. People were treated for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion, but luckily there were no serious injuries. We liked the Daily News' mention of one woman who called her husband to say she was stuck on the D, only to have her husband say. "I'm on the train, too!"
Since a B train was stopped because of the fire, part of its cars were in the tunnel while the others were on the bridge. A D train right behind it was stuck on the Manhattan Bridge. The crazy thing is how firefighters helped subway passengers out: Using ladders and boards, the passengers climbed from the train cars to the bridge (traffic lanes were closed) and walked home. The NY Times had a subway pee story, with a man excushing himself to pee in the back of the car while the car was being evacuated: “It was the most civilized public urination I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said.
The incident stopped service on the B/D/F/V/Q lines (well, some of it was rerouted - we know the B was running on the F part of the evening). And the fire was between the subway's tunnel and the DeKalb station. A "burning wood track tie" was found near a homeless encampment, though authorities do not know if foul play was involved. Subway service is back to normal - so they say.
Were you stuck on the trains? Did you manage to get out okay? It sounds like the FDNY did a good job in getting everyone out while the MTA could work on techniques to keep its riders in the loop. And Razor Apple has some great shots, including the one above, of the scene at the Manhattan Bridge.
