Smoke poured from the 72nd Street subway station at Broadway on Thursday morning after garbage under the platform ignited shortly before 7 a.m.
The FDNY got the call at 6:55 a.m., and put out the fire by 7:54 a.m., a spokesman said. No injuries were reported.
“I saw one woman emerge from the station gasping with an asthma attack,” wrote Joy Bergmann. Trains were still running as of a little after 7 a.m.
Apparent track fire inside 123 subway station at 72 and Broadway. Smokey haze and odor. Trains still running this moment. @westsiderag pic.twitter.com/VLCJTYTNOV
— Joy Bergmann (@JoyBergmann) October 1, 2020
But not understanding why there would have been passengers still in this station with trains still running! 59 minutes of smoke conditions?? If this pic is of the upstairs, and smoke rises, but the fire was under the platform…wow, poor people ON the platform!!!
My southbound 1 train pulled into the station at 6:35 am. There was an odor about the air that smelled like fire, but there was no smoke. Everyone knew that something was burning, but nothing was visible. SO when our train pulled out, we believed it was just a small track fire. Such fires are frequent with garbage on the tracks and sparks from the third rail.
Just another day riding the subway.