Nov 5, 2009 12:29 am US/Eastern
SEPTA: Regional Rail Train Fire Accidental
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
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A SEPTA Regional Rail train caught fire November 4, 2009 -- day two of the SEPTA strike.
CBS
A crowded SEPTA Regional Rail train caught fire Wednesday morning on the tracks in West Philadelphia.
The R5 train caught fire at about 7 a.m. at 52nd Street and Lancaster Avenue, just blocks from the Overbrook station. The train was heading inbound to Amtrak's 30th Street Station from Overbrook.
Flames could be seen shooting from the front car of the train that was overcrowded because of the transit strike. A second car was also damaged. Authorities say more than 500 passengers were safely evacuated and no injuries were reported.
"There was not a lot of smoke initially, but when we were off the train for five minutes, the flames started to come out and they started breaking windows and people were coming out of windows," said passenger Kurt Musselman of Wayne.
SEPTA officials confirmed that several minutes before flames erupted, smoke had been detected inside the train at the Overbrook Station stop. However, after disconnecting a power supply and moving passengers out of the first car, the train was permitted to continue its trip.
Then a mile down the tracks, the first car was fully engulfed in flames.
"Obviously had an open flame been detected at any point, the procedure would have been quite different. The train would have been completely evacuated," SEPTA's Assistant General Manager for Public and Operational Safety James Jordan explained.
Mayor Nutter credited the conductor and Philadelphia Fire Department for averting a possible disaster.
Six SEPTA buses and city school buses shuttled the stranded commuters to 30th Street and Suburban Stations.
SEPTA officials say the cause of the fire appears to be accidental. SEPTA says the fire may have started in a heater or electrical traction motor.
CBS 3 has learned the car that caught fire was put into service in 1965 and was due to be replaced in 2010.
The fire remains under investigation.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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