Fire Breaks Out at Astor Place Subway Stop, Injures 14

A fire broke out at the Astor Place subway station in the wee hours of August 4, injuring six firefighters and eight transit workers.

One transit worker was reportedly treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, while the remaining seven were taken to the hospital and later released. At least five firefighters were hospitalized, according to the FDNY. MTA injuries were reportedly split between work train personnel and station personnel.

The cause of the blaze, which started on a four-car vacuum work train at around 2:15 a.m., remains under investigation. The fire reportedly broke out in a vacuum train’s filter compartments; such trains are regularly used by the MTA to hoover up track debris and other potentially flammable material.

Crews cut track power at around 2:30 a.m., stopping service on the MTA’s Lexington Line between the Spring Street and 14th St. stops. Photos released by the FDNY depicted multiple firetrucks outside the stop, located off Lafayette St., as well as firefighters manning an aboveground command center.

The entire blaze was essentially contained by around 4 a.m., and service was not back online until 6 a.m., due to water and debris issues. As an MTA rep. clarified at a 5 a.m. press conference held on scene, this meant that typical morning rush hour service was not entirely disrupted, although “residual delays” were to be expected.

“New York needs to work with us, but we’ll get it running right away,” the rep. said.

Responding firefighters encountered heavy smoke both within the station and on the street level upon arrival, FDNY Assistant Chief Thomas Currao said at the same presser.

A Brooklyn-bound 4 train entering the station was “simultaneously” evacuated alongside efforts to contain the blaze, while a downtown-bound 6 train was halted before it could enter the station.

”Units immediately began to deploy handlines to knock down the fire, supply the train’s onboard sprinkler system, and conduct primary and secondary searches,” Currao added.

Although Currao noted that the fire had been “knocked down” about an hour earlier, he said that the FDNY would be sticking around afterwards to monitor for any lingering carbon monoxide “and any other contaminants.”

“We seem to have a little bit of a stubborn fire in one particular filter bay. This is the train that actually cleans the tracks. It pulls up the oil and debris from the tracks,” Currao said. “We think that might have possibly been one of the areas where the ignition occurred.”

He later emphasized that hoovered-up oil, in particular, would be a prime suspect for any ignition that occurred in the filter bay.

Later in the day, a social media post by the official “MTA News” account portrayed Bill Amarosa—the Executive Vice President of Subways at New York City Transit—inspecting the track at the Astor Place station.

“Grateful no one was seriously hurt and service was restored for most of rush hour on Lexington Line,” the post read.

Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal also commented on the fire online, calling it a “terrible” incident.

“This fire is a tragic reminder of the dangers frontline MTA personnel and first responders face every single day to keep our subway system moving and New Yorkers safe,” Hoylman-Sigal wrote.