BOSTON (WHDH) - Crews responded to the MBTA’s Tufts Medical Center station on Wednesday after the MBTA said an operator reported flames within the track area near the station.
Video at one point showed the smoky scene on the Tufts platform.
The T initially announced delays for southbound trains in the area around 12:15 p.m.
In an update at 12:30 p.m., the T said service was temporarily suspended between North Station and Back Bay due to what the agency described as an “issue with the third rail.”
A T spokesperson said the operator of a southbound train at Tufts first reported flames within the track area in front of the train around 11:50 a.m.
Shawn Cain said he was on the outbound train that stopped short when its operator saw the flames about 200 feet further in the tunnel ahead.
“It was sparking and then it would kind of burp up some flames,” Cain said.
“You could smell a little burnt rubber, burnt industrial material,” he continued.
On scene, 7NEWS cameras caught emergency crews giving oxygen to one passenger.
“There were people coughing and gagging,” Cain said. “They had material over their face.”
Dandrea Hobbs said she was scared trying to escape the station Wednesday with her baby and 4-year-old son.
“A lot of people were panicking, telling us to get off the train, get out of the station,” she said. “So, we had to hurry up and run and get out of the station.”
Transit police cleared people out of the station while fire crews tended to the flames.
The T spokesperson said there were no injuries.
“Everyone was able to get out fine,” said Boston Fire Department District Fire Chief Robert Counihan. “They evacuated pretty quickly.”
Power was turned off to the third rail around 12 p.m. and fire crews had left the station as of around 1:45 p.m., the T spokesperson said.
Counihan said the incident was an electrical fire caused by some kind of short in the system.
With the incident now under investigation, riders said this was just another example of a broken system.
“It’s all messed up man,” one person said.
The T said regular service had resumed around 2 p.m. A residual delay had cleared as of 2:30 p.m., the T said.
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