Flames and smoke poured from an MBTA Orange Line train crossing the Mystic River in Somerville on Thursday, July 21, 2022. Passengers had to evacuate the train from windows and walk down the bridge to safety.
Startling photos and videos show flames shooting from an Orange Line train stopped over the Mystic River Thursday and passengers evacuating onto the bridge.
The train fire — the latest incident to impact MBTA riders' commutes — left the front of the Orange Line train charred. Passengers had to walk down the tracks from the bridge.
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Video shared by people on the train showed passengers smashing windows to get out. One woman said she jumped into the river to avoid the smoke, but got out of the water on her own and refused help.
Power between Wellington and Assembly stations was shut off as rescue workers helped passengers and put out the fire. The crippled train was brought to the yard at Wellington as investigators worked to figure out what went wrong.
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The images on social media from up close and far away showed the chaotic scene.
John Gosselin, who was staying at the nearby Encore hotel, saw the train fire from his window.
“I saw the train come to a stop first, then it started to spark, then it started to flame. It fully engulfed the first probably six feet of car behind the driver, then smoke started to billow all the way back on the train. Then folks started to come out the windows. It was scary there for a minute. You could not see the train, the smoke was so dark. The passengers were clearly helping each other, moving very quickly to the rear of the train,” he said.
Gosselin said people were “physically climbing out on the city side of the train” and going out onto the track.
“I would almost describe it as an explosion,” he added. “It was a burst. It probably burned for a minute, and then after that, it was just a lot of smoke – very intense for a very short period of time.”
“People were clearly panicked and moving quickly toward the rear,” he said. “It was unclear if it was going go get any worse, but the fire burned itself out.”
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