There is no New Jersey Transit or Amtrak service in or out of Penn Station.
LIRR service resumed around 5:45 a.m. Amtrak expects service to be suspended until noon.
There was a heavy emergency response at 10th Avenue and 31st Street, where a thick cloud of black smoke filled the street around 1:30 a.m. This followed an engine fire on Track 11 just west of Penn Station.
Crews have been working at the scene since then and have been seen going in and out of a doorway across the street.
Beyond the doors spotted from the street is a stairwell that allowed firefighters to access areas below ground.
"We had to go through an emergency exit to extinguish the fire, that was the closest option to us. It would have been a significantly difficult stretch of the hose line to go through actually Penn Station itself so we had to go through the emergency exit," FDNY Deputy Chief Michael Barvels said.
The fire involved an Amtrak work train that caught fire in the West Side Rail Yard.
The man who was on a train when it passed by the fire said he was shocked and confused as to why the train was allowed to pass by the fire.
"There was this sort of explosion that occurred, we were stuck between 5-8 minutes," he said. "For me personally I was pretty shocked...why would you ride us right through it?"
The engine went up in flames, prompting firefighters to call a second alarm and run hoses into the yard to bring the fire under control.
Crews worked to fully extinguish the fire and determine how many tracks remained operational.
"Very heavy smoke condition, high heat, a lot of hazards down there, tripping hazards, electrical hazards, but our units, we're trained for this," Barvels said.
Commuters were urged to take alternate routes to avoid the area along 10th Avenue between 31st and 33rd streets.
Authorities say five workers, believed to be railroad employees, were injured and treated for smoke inhalation.
Two of those injuries are considered serious, while three others refused medical attention.
Meantime commuters were scrambling to find a way to work or home.
There were long lines, confused commuters, and people on their phones trying to figure out how to get to their destination from Newark Penn Station.
Many commuters had to transfer to PATH trains to get into the city.
"I just literally came into the station and looked at the board and saw all the trains is canceled so that was a huge shock to everybody," said Yves Pierre, a commuter.
"I heard about it this morning I take the train, it's NJ Transit so you just have to expect these things," said Eric Jarmon, a commuter.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
NJ Transit:
- Midtown Direct service is being diverted to Hoboken. NJ TRANSIT rail tickets and passes are being cross honored by NJ TRANSIT and private carrier bus and PATH at Newark Penn Station, Hoboken and 33rd Street, New York.
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