UPDATE:
TRAIN SERVICE RESUMES AFTER "SUSPICIOUS" FIRE AT PENN STATION: FDNY
NEW YORK (AP) —
FIRE MARSHALS SAY AN EARLY-MORNING BLAZE NEAR NEW YORK'S PENN STATION WAS
ACCIDENTAL.
The three-alarm fire broke out at 2:22
a.m. Tuesday in an underground construction site at 34th Street and Eighth
Avenue. It was under control three hours later. Fire officials say the fire
sparked in a temporary wiring area used for lighting for the construction work.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries
and were taken to a hospital.
Three subway lines, the A, E and C,
which had been bypassing Penn Station, resumed running through the area shortly
after the fire was extinguished.
TRAIN SERVICE RESUMES AFTER "SUSPICIOUS" FIRE AT PENN STATION: FDNY
Tuesday, Jan 13, 2015 • Updated at 7:35 AM EST
Trains coming in and out of Penn Station early Tuesday
morning were temporarily delayed following what officials are calling a
"suspicious" fire.
More than 150 firefighters battled the three-alarm fire
that took over two levels of a construction site by the west end of the LIRR
concourse at Penn Station, located at West 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue in
Manhattan, FDNY Chief James Leonard said.
The blaze, which started just before 2:30 a.m., caused A
and E trains to temporarily bypass the station. Subway service returned to
normal by 5:30 a.m., and some residual delays were possible throughout the
morning.
Tracks 19-21 for LIRR trains into Penn Station were shut
down, but were not affected by the fire. Officials were in the process of
restoring power to those tracks. Some residual delays were possible.
Some LIRR trains were being diverted to Atlantic
Terminal or Hunterspoint Avenue and some were canceled at the Jamaica station.
NYC Transit is cross-honoring LIRR fares for the Nos. 2, 3, 7 and E subway
lines.
The investigation also closed several roads in the area.
The westbound side of West 33rd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues
remained closed as of 6:30 a.m.
Two firefighters sustained minor injuries fighting the
flames. The fire caused substantive structural damage to the station, according
to the FDNY.
Fire officials are investigating the cause of the fire,
which they have labeled "suspicious."