Subway services in Los Angeles faced a temporary halt on Sunday as fire crews attended to an electrical fire in a Metro subway tunnel beneath the MacArthur Park area, confirmed by officials. According to KTLA, the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) received reports of the fire at 1:32 p.m. and dispatched teams to the site between the 7th Street/Metro Center station and the Westlake/MacArthur Park station, resulting in the suspension of 'B' (Red) and 'D' (Purple) line trains.
In an alarm set off by the flames, LAFD confirmed that all trains had been "safely stopped at remote station locations away from the incident" and that there were no subway trains or patrons in peril. The fire reportedly involved both rubbish and the 'third rail' system, which contains high-voltage electricity for propelling trains. The fire itself was safely contained and extinguished in a remote tunnel section, and despite this, while fire crews conducted their operations, train services remained paused.
The official LAFD alert provided a preliminary account stating that the teams were responding to an electrical fire and alarm activation affecting the subway service. No injuries or dangers to passengers were reported according to the incident command, which was conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire at that time.
By 2:15 p.m., authorities had successfully managed the situation with LAFD crews able to access, confine, and extinguish the small blaze, detailed in an update from LAFD. Service for 'B' and 'D' line trains continued to be suspended until the operations were complete. Metro is the point of contact for media inquiries and information on when subway services would resume, with commuters left to await the resumption of normal operations on these lines.
