An electrical fire at Grand Central Madison severely disrupted LIRR service Tuesday morning and injured three firefighters, as well as another person.
FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said more than 100 firefighters were needed to gain control of the fire that began in a substation for the new terminal just after 8 a.m.
He said there was zero visibility on the tracks due to the smoke. Firefighters found the source of the fire after cutting through a roll-down gate.
"Heavy, heavy, smoke condition for the fire department,” Tucker said, adding it took “a lot of water on the fire to get it out."
Ventilation fans blew smoke out of Grand Central Madison, which is 15 stories below-ground and opened just over two years ago.
The Fire Marshal and the MTA are investigating the cause of the fire. By 3 p.m., LIRR service was restored.
Melanie Guzman said police told her to leave her job at Damselfly Flowers in Grand Central shortly after the fire broke out.
" He basically said you shouldn't be here," she said. "There's like toxins that you're smelling, so we put on our masks and then we just started closing up quickly, but it was making us nauseous."
Metro-North Railroad service to Grand Central Terminal was uninterrupted.
Manhattan-bound LIRR trains were being rerouted to Penn Station, diverted to Atlantic Terminal or canceled after arriving at Jamaica, the MTA said.
Gothamist previously reported on the antiquated electrical equipment used to maintain subway service. Information on the substation that caught fire in the new train terminal was not immediately available.
