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And not in a good way. Chicagoist, along with hundreds of other people, were forced to walk home tonight because of a fire on the rear car of a Blue Line train. No trains were running in either direction between Washington in the Loop and Damen Avenue. The alternate route is the #56 bus that runs up Milwaukee Avenue, but that was so packed that the drivers were not even stopping at the stops. Not one more person could fit in those buses. We're not complaining, though. About 76 people on the train have been treated and transported, and a few were in serious condition. The cause of the fire is not known yet. We'll post photos and updates soon, but we just walked in the door and wanted to get a post up quick to let people share their stories and information they have on what's going on. Leave comments!
Update: NBC 5 is reporting that the fire was caused by a rear train that derailed. The fire was reported just after 5pm on a Blue Line train near 124 W. Lake St. CTA President Frank Kruesi said that "The underside of the car actually caught fire" and that the tracks, the 3rd rail and the signals were also damaged. Passengers were evacuated from underground near Clinton and Fulton. NBC is giving out this number for the Red Cross Patient Information Line, if you need to find out if someone you know was among the injured: (312) 729-6100.
Update: 7:52pm - CTA says that there is no service between LaSalle and Damen. There is a shuttle bus between the Damen and LaSalle Blue Line stations in both directions.
Update: 8:30pm - Wish they would make up their minds. The CTA alert is back to saying that there's no service between Damen and Washington, not LaSalle. We're sure they'll be working on it all night, but we're wondering how or if things will be up and running for the morning commute.
Update: 10pm - Anyone who left stuff behind when they were evacuating can pick it up at the 1st Police District starting at 6 a.m., Wednesday, July 12. The district is at 1718 S. State St., and can be reached by phone at 312-745-4290.
Update: 10:32pm - James reminds me, and all of you, that now is a good time to sign up for the CTA Tattler's SMS CTA Alerts. Actually, yesterday would have been a good time, so we could have gotten the alerts today, but this is a good reminder why the service is important.
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Thank god no one was killed. That shit was crazy.
Took the A train from Jay Street/Borough Hall up to 42nd Street. Normal amount of crowding starting at Broadway/Nassau & then Chambers St... oops, wrong city, bye
I've only been to Chicago once, but felt an instant connection. When I saw this on FOX News, I felt my stomach sink as if it was happening blocks, not hundreds of miles, away. (Of course this is partially because we don't know the cause of the fire and we're all hoping it isn't terrorism). But anyway, thank goodness there were no fatalities.
Scary stuff.
I went to get on the Blue Line at about 5:25 and found them telling people to use other methods (after paying my fare and getting down to the train, since I'd just missed a systemwide announcement as I entered). I went back up, the C.A. was using his access card to trigger the turnstile to print paper transfers, and took Pink to Ashland and the #9 back up to the East Ukrainian Village.
I'm just glad I wasn't on that train. I've been through a fire and evacuation before, but the smoke wasn't dense at all. Seeing the people coughing and with soot is pretty terrifying. I'm so glad nobody was killed (although some people are, indeed, in serious condition).
One only can wonder how long before service is restored. Not only do they have to rerail or otherwise remove a broken train, but they also have to fix the rails and repair signaling systems.
A cop outside the state of Illinois building told me it was a wheel that came off
Looks like company 19 was first on the scene, how the hell could they make it from 35th & king to fulton st before anyone else?
nsh - very observant, but actually the company 19 truck was farther up on milwaukee.. not at fulton. my photos are my walk from the west loop up milwaukee.. then i cut off milwaukee at augusta.
the cta is a pox on this city. they've done a terrible job for years and this is just one more example. oh to be a plaintiff's attorney. have no doubt some ridiculously gross negligence was behind this.
as i was driving home on the kennedy i, for one, was glad that the blue line wasn't running just so i wouldn't have my drive interrupted by a 30-second blast of shreiking train while i'm stopped in traffic. but i did feel bad for all the poor folks standing at their cumberland/harlem/etc stations waiting for a train that would presumably never come...?
It always pays to take a leak and check your 401k before leaving work. I would've been on that train. Instead I got a free ride on the Metra and a great story from a guy who was on the first car of that Blue Line train. He was one of the first ones out of the emergency exit, and was lucky because many others came out covered in soot.
Hey some asshole why are you always being an asshole? Its not like Chicagoist ever/recently rain a segment about the numerous incidents of toxic smoke on the blue line during rush hour that received a lot of action/replies! And even if they did, I’m sure there is no connection what so ever. just like the job scandal at City Hall “wasn’t all a sham” quote Mayor dirty little Richie.
And speaking of pensions, I’m sure Frank Kruze CTA Board Chair is worth very penny of his million dollar pension. But come on every body, don’t pay attention focus on the Bean, the Millennium Park Bean.
I think I'm gonna not ride on the back car of a train for a while.
oh boy. I usually ride this train home from work but decided to go out for a few drinks with a friend tonight. I saw the crowds of people trying to get home and it looked like a mess. A few drinks ended up being a bit of a late night (around 10:30pm) and I left the bar to discover about 4 phone calls from my mother wondering if I was okay.
I will never regret my occasional bouts of tardiness again. I hustled into the Division blue line stop about 5:10 to hear a garbled message about...something. Asked the attendant and she said something about a problem at Damen. Ended up grabbing the Ashland bus to Lake then the Green Line over to Clinton just south of the incident site. Lots of ambulances and the sounds of sirens and helicopters all over. A foreboding sound.
Apropos of nothing but odd just the same: I came out of the Division el stop just in time to see Gov. Blago get out of a black SUV and get hustled into the MB Bank.
I got on the Blue Line at Washington/Dearborn and found the train stalled at Clark/Lake. We were first told that the train would be delayed due to an emergency between Grand and Chicago stations. We were then told that that the delay was due to Fire Department activity ahead, and then told to exit the train. I couldn't get any information from CTA employees on replacement buses because I was first told in the Thompson Center to stand back and wait for an annoucement by a CTA spokesperson, but I was soon told by a police officer along with all other confused bystanders to leave the building.
I did see the scene at Clinton/Fulton on my walk home. I am truly fortunate not to have been one of the people caught on that train and literally soaked in smoke and soot. Since the train I left was the last one to stop at Clark/Lake before all trains shut down, I must have just been one train away from being caught in it all.
I just got a report from someone who apparently has an inside source that they may be opening up single-track service shortly.
They're not saying much yet about the morning rush--I would imagine it's extremely difficult to remove a train, rebuild a section of running and contact rail, test power delivery and the new rail itself, and reinstitute service. But it's starting to sound like they might actually have things near-normal at some point this morning.
Blue line service has returned to normal operation.
Boy am I getting really tired of a post's author referring to themselves as "Chicagoist," as in the above context "Chicagoist, along with hundereds of other people..."
Chicagoist, as I believe, is this web site I am looking at and typing on. Never seen a web site walk, but there's always a first for everything.