A fire sparked above a Green Line train parked at the Boston College yard around 4:58 p.m. Sunday evening, triggering a large emergency response and temporary shutdown of the MBTA B Line near campus.
The incident began when an overhead catenary wire caught fire, producing sparks and smoke above the parked train. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
At the time of the fire, two operators were onboard and were later escorted to a local hospital to be evaluated for smoke-related injuries, according to Gabrielle Mondestin, chief communications officer for the MBTA. Passengers had already disembarked from the train, eyewitnesses said.
The Boston Fire Department arrived at the scene at 5:06 p.m., and the fire was extinguished at 5:26 p.m.
Around 5 p.m., roughly 110 feet of overhead wire went onto the tracks, prompting a power shut-off between BC and Babcock Street. Shuttle buses replaced T service between Babcock Street and BC while an emergency power department crew assessed the damage. Normal T service resumed late Sunday night, according to the MBTA.
Adriana Martinez, MCAS ’28, who was working the register at Crazy Dough’s Pizza, at the time of the fire, described the initial sounds of the fire as “explosive.”
“It sounded like something was gonna blow up, honestly,” Martinez said. “Then we saw sparks, and then people were, like, screaming, and then there was somebody on the train, and they ran off—it just, like, caught on fire, and we ran over there, and it was literally on fire.”
Martinez said she and others in the store rushed outside after hearing the initial sounds.
“I was behind the counter, but everyone in here freaked out, and ran outside and ran away,” she said. “I ran around, but then people started standing there, and I saw it, and it wasn’t, like, an explosion or anything. It was just on fire.”
Garrett MacKenzie, CSOM ’27, saw the aftermath while driving down Comm Ave. to Richdale Food Shops.
“I thought it was a little shocking because it was so close,” he said. “My first thought was if people were on the T when it happened, and because a lot of people are probably using it at this hour if they’re coming back from the city.”
MacKenzie said he saw multiple fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances rushing to the scene.
“It was just a very large response, honestly, one of the largest responses of emergency vehicles I’ve seen in a while,” he said.
A section of Comm Ave. was quickly shut down, causing cars to be redirected, according to MacKenzie.
“In terms of people who wanted to go straight down Comm Ave., that road got blocked off pretty quickly,” he said. “It was just a cop car pulled up and went parallel or horizontal, I guess, to the road, and nobody could drive through.”
In a statement, Mondestin thanked first responders for their quick assistance, as well as passengers for their understanding as the MBTA works to resolve the issue.
“We thank our riders for their patience during the service disruption on the B Line near Boston College this evening,” Mondestin wrote to The Heights. “We thank the Boston Fire Department and Transit Police for their quick action and continued support on scene and wish a speedy recovery to our operators who were impacted by this incident.”
