Another day in hell
The “Summer of Hell” came to Harlem Monday as a track fire stalled trains and left hundreds of straphangers stranded at the 168th Street station.
The “Summer of Hell” expanded from Penn Station to a Harlem subway tunnel on Monday as a track fire left several trains stalled amid clouds of thick smoke and created panic among trapped passengers.
The 7:25 a.m. trash fire on the track near 145th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue caused smoke to travel all the way down the tunnel to 135th Street.
“People were panicking,” said rider Gwen Hendrington, 53, of Harlem, who was treated at the scene by paramedics after getting stuck on a D train for about an hour.
“People started opening the windows and all the smoke started coming in,” said Hendrington, who suffers from asthma.
“I was crying and people were trying to calm me down . . . I started to hyperventilate . . . I started having problems breathing.”
Hendrington said that she heard commuters “screaming” from other train cars and that one woman “passed out from the heat.”
About 60 firefighters responded to the blaze, which was extinguished by 9:15 a.m.
Nine people who suffered minor injuries due to smoke inhalation were taken to Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Harlem Hospital, according to officials.
A straphanger who was stuck aboard another D train for about an hour said she initially feared the worst.
“I immediately thought there was a terrorist attack,” said Jaque- line Trinidad, 54. “The MTA is having so many problems lately. They need to fix this.”
Service was suspended on the B and C trains in both directions.
A-train service was suspended between 125th Street and Inwood-207th Street in both directions, as was D-train service between 125th Street and Norwood205th Street.
Twitter user Dave George posted a video showing a jampacked platform on the 1 line at 145th Street-Broadway.
“Hundreds can’t get to work via the downtown 1 train after uptown A, C, D, B service totally shuts down. #SummerOf- Hell continues,” he tweeted.
Service on the A, B, C and D lines resumed with extensive delays at about 9:50 a.m., according to the MTA.
Transit officials blamed the fire on debris on the tracks, although it was unclear how it ignited.
“We are reviewing the entire incident, we apologize for the inconvenience, and we appreciate our customers’ patience,” said MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz.
The MTA said a D train on the express track going from 145th Street to 125th Street was held up in the station for about 25 minutes until firefighters cleared the track.
Other trains were held at stations and passengers from one D train walked in between cars to the front portion that was in the station, the MTA said.