TRAIN SERVICE RESUMES AFTER "SUSPICIOUS" FIRE AT PENN STATION: FDNY

UPDATE:

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."