(The Chicago Daily Herald posted the following article by Kat Zeman to its website on September 11.)
CHICAGO — More than 4,400 commuters on eight Milwaukee District West Line trains were delayed Wednesday morning after a fire broke out on one of the trains near Itasca.
Metra train No. 2203 was traveling west from Chicago to Elgin when the locomotive’s engine generator started to smoke, Metra spokesman Dan Schnolas said. It appeared that an electrical problem was the cause, authorities said.
An engineer in an eastbound train noticed the smoke and notified the affected train’s operator, Schnolas said. The train made an emergency stop around 7:10 a.m. at the Itasca station at Irving Park Road and Maple Avenue.
No one was injured, but trains traveling in both directions through Bensenville, Wood Dale, Itasca, Roselle, Medinah, Schaumburg, Hanover Park and Bartlett were behind schedule anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes, authorities said.
Stranded passengers had to wait until the fire was extinguished and catch the next train.
Six of the delayed trains were heading east into Chicago and two were westbound into Elgin.
“The passengers were not at risk per se. The fire was confined to the diesel engines,” Itasca Fire Protection District Chief Jim MacArthur said. “But it was a stubborn fire because inside these locomotives you have toxic products and confined space.”
It took Itasca and Wood Dale firefighters about an hour to extinguish the fire.
The incident also delayed traffic along Maple Avenue where it crosses the railroad tracks, officials said. The tracks were closed for about an hour.