By Evan Simko-Bednarski
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Long Island Rail Road riders had a hectic commute Tuesday morning, with multiple lines rerouted, delayed or canceled as firefighters responded to a transformer room fire at Grand Central Madison in Manhattan.
The terminal reopened to LIRR service shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday, and full service to and from Long Island was expected for the p.m. rush.
An MTA spokeswoman told the Daily News that reports of smoke on the tracks first came in shortly after 8 a.m.
The station’s own fire brigade initially responded, a transit source told The News, but was unable to locate the source of the smoke and called FDNY.
The FDNY received the call around 8:15 a.m. , said Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker .
About 100 fire and EMS personnel deployed to the station over the course of the morning, Tucker said, ultimately locating the fire in a deep sub-basement nearly 200 feet beneath street level.
“Absolutely zero visibility down there,” Tucker said. “Firefighters were met with heavy, heavy smoke, and a significant amount of fire when they ultimately located the room where the fire was coming from.”
The transformer fire was under control by 11:46 a.m., an FDNY spokesman said.
EMS treated three firefighters and one civilian for injuries, Tucker said. MTA officials confirmed that one LIRR worker received minor injuries.
LIRR tracks connect to Grand Central via the lower level of the 63rd St. tunnel, which also carries F train subway service on its upper level. The smoke condition had no apparent effects to F train service Tuesday.
Trains running on the Babylon, Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma and West Hempstead branches were being rerouted to Penn Station or Jamaica. Port Washington service to Grand Central was suspended, and some trains on the Far Rockaway and Hempstead branches were canceled.
Residual delays and rerouting persisted into the early afternoon. The cause of the transformer fire is under investigation by the LIRR’s fire marshal.
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