# Fire in Penn Station (NY)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 14, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-penn-station-ny/155156 "2003-02-14T21:25:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-penn-station-ny/155156/21 "2003-02-15T00:29:23Z")
From [ABC local news](http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/WABC_021403_trainservice.html) > [@](#): > > Penn Station Evacuated, Train Service Suspended Due To Cable Fire > An electrical fire filled parts of Pennsylvania Station with thick white smoke, forcing a partial evacuation and wreaking havoc on train service. The LIRR suspended service, subways were bypassing the station and Metro North was reporting delays. Doesn’t say anything about duct tape requirements. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-penn-station-ny/155156/22 "2003-02-15T02:21:08Z")
That would explain the fleet of news helicopters hovering over the West Side this evening. I hate that stupid station anyway. GC is so much better. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-penn-station-ny/155156/23 "2003-02-15T03:01:09Z")
Well, it royally screwed up everyone’s Friday evening commute, but was nothing Ominous. PATH train was full of damn subway refugees, buckin’ for our seats . . . ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-penn-station-ny/155156/24 "2003-02-15T03:01:14Z")
Well, it royally screwed up everyone’s Friday evening commute, but was nothing Ominous. PATH train was full of damn subway refugees, buckin’ for our seats . . . ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-penn-station-ny/155156/25 "2003-02-15T04:43:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > **I’ve been to Penn Station. I hope it’s not on fire.** Are you referring to some other Penn Station? Maybe the one in Newark? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-penn-station-ny/155156/26 "2003-02-15T05:10:45Z")
These can be pretty spectacular. There was one about 2 years (and another lifetime ago) and I saw the smoke coming out of the ACE 34th st subway entrance. Great billowing clouds of black smoke. (Burnt out transformer) Today some wire fell on the third rail and burt out so the power had to be shut off in that area to fight the fire. Oh and there are lots of Penn Stations. Pennslyvainia RR wasn’t all that imaginative with names, or maybe everyone in town called the station Penn Station because of the RR that stopped there. ---
**Author:** ![RazzBaronZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@RazzBaronZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RazzBaronZ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-penn-station-ny/155156/27 "2003-02-15T06:28:59Z")
I was actually taking the 2 or 3 at the time and had to bypasss 34th street. They said that there was smoke on the LIRR and you could smell it a little as you passed. The platform was completely desolate. I think it was a small fire on the LIRR that was exaggerated because of the “Orange Alert.” And the 1,2,3 and 9 were all affected. All other trains not on those lines got to 34th fine (I had to transfer at 42nd because I was oging to 34th at the time). Also, there were many helicopters and a firetruck or two riding around when I got out on 34th and 6th. It seemed like they were making a big deal of nothing to me. Thanks for letting me spew all that info. ---
**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-penn-station-ny/155156/28 "2003-02-15T12:42:48Z")
These track fires happen quite a bit and are usually the result of people throwing trash on the tracks. I commuted on the LIRR for years and track fires seemed to be pretty commonplace. What awful timing… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-penn-station-ny/155156.md?page=1)