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Orange Line Service Disrupted After Train Motor Overheats, Sparking Fire In Back Bay Station

The scene outside Back Bay station Wednesday evening after a train engine's overheated and caused a fire that filled the station with smoke. (Shannon Dooling/WBUR)
The scene outside Back Bay station Wednesday evening after a train engine's overheated and caused a fire that filled the station with smoke. (Shannon Dooling/WBUR)

Orange Line service on the MBTA was disrupted during the evening commute Wednesday after a train's motor overheated in Back Bay Station and sparked a fire.

Social media reports from the scene showed panicked commuters breaking windows to get out of the train as T workers hurried to the open doors.

Transit police said five people, including one transit officer, were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene. Two of those people were transported to Tufts Medical Center for further evaluation, according to Boston EMS workers.

The Boston Fire Department evacuated the station just before 5 p.m.

"The Orange Line experienced a mechanical problem causing an electrical type incident that lit some trash on fire, causing quite a bit of smoke as the train was leaving the station," Transit Police Deputy Chief Preston Horton told WBUR.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo says the T has not determined the cause of the incident, but said in a statement "it is believed the smoke situation was most likely related to the motor."

Tracy Taylor, of Beacon Hill, said she was in a train car that filled with smoke.

"The whole tunnel actually filled up with smoke, the whole station filled up with smoke," Taylor said. "There was some panic in my car. I did see some people going into panic mode."

The doors to the train were closed during the incident because the train had begun to move away from the platform, not because of a malfunction, Pesaturo said. T workers rushed to open doors for passengers to evacuate the train.

Orange Line service was suspended between Jackson and Haymarket while the incident was cleared up. Service for the Orange Line southbound resumed around 5:40 p.m. and northbound at 6:15 p.m., according to Pesaturo. Get the latest MBTA service updates here.

With reporting by WBUR's Shannon Dooling

This article was originally published on October 26, 2016.

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