(The Chicago Sun Times posted the following article on its website on February 2.)
CHICAGO — The engine of a Metra train in the LaSalle Street station caught fire and was “smoldering” Friday morning in the Loop.
Fire crews called for the “small fire’’ in the engine at 10:45 a.m. at the 400 block of South La Salle Street, according to Fire Media Affairs Cmdr. Will Knight.
“It was not a big fire,’’ Knight said. The fire was under control and there were no reports of injuries, he said.
The train’s engine was “smoldering” and had been removed from the train and taken to the 12th Street yard to be examined to make sure there were no other “points of ignition,’’ Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile said. Metra was notified of the incident at 10:44 a.m. and there were no reports of evacuations or injuries, Reile said.
The engine is located on the back of the train and would have been outside of the actual station “in the open air,’’ Reile said. The LaSalle Street station is widely used for South Side commuters.
The cause of the fire was unknown.