Red Line catches on fire again

By adamg - 6/14/12 - 11:33 pm

Firefighters rushed to Downtown Crossing, where some sort of smouldering fire burned on the Alewife tracks just past the station.

The fire was reported around 10:35 p.m. Firefighters were unable to get onto the tracks until around 11:10 p.m., however, because the T didn't shut power on the tracks until then. At one point, firefighters who thought the T had already stopped trains toward Alewife were surprised to see a train pull into the station. Once firefighters got onto the tracks, they extinguished the small fire within a few minutes.

This was at least the Red Line's second track fire today; service was halted around 1:40 p.m. after paper on the tracks caught fire near Harvard.

Other Downtown Crossing fires:

Meltdown on the Red and Orange lines, 9/16/09.
Fire at Downtown Crossing shuts Red, Orange, Green lines, 4/29/10.
Track fire at Downtown Crossing disrupts Red Line service, 1/14/11.
Orange Line on fire again, 1/18/11.
Red Line track fire fills Downtown Crossing with smoke, shuts service, 4/4/12.

Comments

Maybe they should clean the track bed?

By rb - 6/14/12 - 11:57 pm

#1

This is why our larger neighbor to the south has a Vac Train...and we have regular fires.

Six fires in the same station in three years isn't a bit much; IT'S FUCKING RIDICULOUS.

I thought it was just a novel

By anon (not verified) - 6/15/12 - 2:04 am

#2

I thought it was just a novel excuse for arriving to work late! Toss a pile of papers at that third rail and go out for breakfast (dreaming)...

This is more argument to ride a bike, people!

35 minutes to shut down power?

By dirtywater77 - 6/15/12 - 1:30 am

#3

I wonder if the power dispatcher was too engrossed in the Miami vs OKC game to answer the phone?!

Since it was a small fire,

By anon (not verified) - 6/15/12 - 6:45 am

#4

Since it was a small fire, they probably wantd to make sure that all trains had made it into stations to let passengers off, instead of leaving people sitting in dead trains betwen stations.

There were T inspectors on scene

By adamg - 6/15/12 - 7:36 am

#5

But apparently the ultimate decision rested with a dispatcher at the T command center on High Street. And, yes, they wanted to make sure trains were in stations before shutting the power down - which is why the fire commander at Downtown Crossing seemed so surprised when an Alewife train not only pulled into DTX but then continued on.

They might also have wanted

By anon (not verified) - 6/15/12 - 9:12 am

#6

They might also have wanted to make sure trains, even after passengers were off, were parked in sections where the power would not be killed (which would be a reason why the arriving train would keep on going). When a train sits without power for awhile, the hand brakes have to be set and it can take awhile to get it going again once power is resumed. If the train can sit with power on, then it can get going immediatly once the all clear is given.

Which would have meant going all the way to Central, at least

By adamg - 6/15/12 - 10:34 am

#7

Since apparently the way the Red Line is wired, the T had to shut the power to Kendall to make the tracks safe for the firefighters at Downtown Crossing.

T- troubles

By anon (not verified) - 6/15/12 - 6:34 am

#8

This is not good , if a busuiness had this many fires the city would be shutting them down,A fire in a subway tunnel has to be a fireman's worst nightamare. Didn't you post a story about tragic fires on the T

Cisterns?

By Udonymous (not verified) - 6/15/12 - 9:58 am

#9

If they could just collect all the water that seems to seep in and screw up the T during rainstorms, maybe they could use it for fire suppression?

(not serious)

I missed all the fun

By Matthew - 6/15/12 - 12:08 pm

#10

I was on the Red Line several times yesterday and I didn't encounter any delays. What luck!

Location

Javascript is required to view this map.