Atlantide Phototravel/Corbis
A dangerous fire in the Chicago subway on Sunday didn’t impact Monday’s commute.
Chicago Transit Authority investigators still don’t know what caused a fire in an underground commuter rail tunnel that sent 19 people to the hospital for smoke inhalation injuries and respiritory problems on Sunday. Officials restored service by Sunday evening and there were no rush hour problems on Monday.
The midday multi-alarm blaze, which broke out near the Clark and Division station on the North Side exposed passengers on the Red Line to thick clouds of smoke that sent them fleeing for the exits. “The smoke was so thick you couldn’t see across the aisle,” passenger Dillon Johnson told the Chicago Tribune.
Officials say fires like this are rare in the subway areas of Chicago’s train system and more likely on the elevated tracks which span most of the city. The fire was the latest in a series in the last four years. Last year, maintenance materials sparked flames in a subway station, but no injuries took place. In 2008, cables caught fire on the elevated line. The worst, however, was in 2006 when a train derailed in a tunnel, catching fire and causing 150 injuries.
Also, in 2008 a South Side train derailed, sending 14 people to the hospital.