A Boston-bound train caught fire during the journey Thursday morning, prompting a frantic evacuation, with passengers climbing out of windows to escape the smoke and one person even jumping into the river below.
The fire is just the latest safety hazard to draw attention to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which was reprimanded in June by the Federal Transportation Administration for “persistent safety violations and failure to take immediate, corrective action.”
The MBTA Orange Line train was on a bridge crossing the Mystic River north of Boston as it approached the assembly station around 7 a.m. when flames and smoke were seen billowing from the lead car, according to a statement from the MBTA.
About 200 passengers were on board at the time and most were evacuated by MBTA personnel. No injuries were reported and the person who jumped into the water swam to safety and refused medical attention, CBS News reported.
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The unnamed woman who jumped into the Mystic River remembers thinking, “I think I’m safer in the water right now than walking on the rails,” she told CBS Boston.
“I was very scared for all of us,” she added. “We had no idea what was going on. It was like pandiz.”
Jennifer Thomson-Sullivan, 42, told The Boston Globe that she was one of the passengers in the car above that caught fire. She said she saw flames licking up both sides of the carriage.
“That’s when everyone started going crazy,” she said. “At that point in my brain I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ People rushed to the back of the car where I was sitting. There was a gentleman frantically trying to open the emergency exit. But the door wouldn’t open.
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Thomson-Sullivan said when the man couldn’t open the door, he kicked out a window instead.
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“From that point on, people started throwing themselves out the window,” she said. “They didn’t stop to think about the third rail or what if another train was coming the other way … People just did it.”
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The fire was likely caused when a piece of metal broke free from the underside of the Orange Line train and made contact with the third rail, which conducts electricity along the tracks.
MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said at a press conference Thursday afternoon that “a metal sill that runs along the base of the vehicle, approximately one foot by six feet, came loose on car 1251. That sill came loose and then came into contact with the third rail, resulting in an arc.
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Within two minutes of the fire, Poftak said, an oncoming train was stopped and a call was received to cut power to the burning train.
“Some people made the decision to self-evacuate, which I understand, but we also had an evacuation through the back of the train,” Poftak said, adding that “there were a number of people who self-evacuated through several windows on the train.”
Four windows were removed during the chaos, according to Poftak.
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Despite the outpouring of criticism about the MBTA’s infrastructure, Poftak said he remains confident in the transit system.
“This is where I took the orange line,” he said. “I’ll take it back. I regularly take public transport.’
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the fire was “evidence of an aging transit system in crisis,” adding that she was working for “rapid system-wide upgrades.”
For the safety of our community and the future of our city and region, it’s time for a transformation at the @MBTA . Boston is ready to help lead. pic.twitter.com/TwOqwpCclM
— Mayor Michelle Wu 吳弭 (@MayorWu) July 21, 2022
The train that caught fire first ran in 1980 and was last inspected on June 23, according to Poftak. The MBTA is conducting inspections of all vehicles on the Orange Line following the fire.
Poftak apologized to riders, calling Thursday’s fire “a very frightening event and not the service the MBTA wants to provide.”
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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