Fires in Empty N.Y. Train Cars Injure 52

A series of fires swept through empty train cars beneath Grand Central Terminal today, injuring 52 people at the famous Manhattan station. Authorities suspect arson, possibly by homeless people living in the trains.

Authorities said 29 people were taken to hospitals--12 firefighters and 17 others, including five who were overcome walking in the smoke that clouded streets outside the terminal. Twenty-three others were treated at the scene.

Metro-North Commuter Railroad service north of New York City was halted because of the fires, stranding 125,000 commuters.

The four-hour fire in 18 train cars sent up clouds of acrid black smoke that blackened the skies over mid-town Manhattan and was so thick in the tunnel that firefighters were unable to see.

Officials said cooking materials were found in some of the trains and they were investigating whether homeless people who live in the labyrinth of tunnels under the famous station might have sparked the blazes.

Fire Chief Joseph Spinnato said the fires broke out in cars on sidings in the Madison Avenue storage yards in a third-level underground tunnel beneath mid-town Manhattan. The fires began about 5:15 a.m. and were declared under control at 9:02 a.m.