52 Hurt in N.Y. Train Depot Fires Possibly Started by Homeless

NEW YORK — Four underground fires, possibly started by the homeless who live in a labyrinth of tunnels deep below Grand Central Terminal, injured 52 persons Wednesday, engulfed 18 railroad cars and snarled train service for 125,000 commuters during the morning rush hour in New York.

As thick clouds of black smoke poured through vents from the station, motorists on mid-Manhattan streets outside turned on their headlights. Pedestrians, many with handkerchiefs over their mouths, fled midtown streets.

Arson Blamed

After a daylong investigation at the landmark railroad station, authorities announced that the blazes were the result of arson on a siding where derelicts often are found.

The fires began almost simultaneously at four places in a six-block area beneath the terminal on the third underground level. Officials said that cooking materials were found in some of the cars that burned and that cardboard boxes, food wrappings and cups were burning when firefighters arrived.

“Squatters have apparently been living there for ages,” Assistant Fire Commissioner John J. Mulligan said. He said that the area is honeycombed with recesses and that “squatters probably know more about the place than we do.”

Over the years, Grand Central Terminal has become a congregating point for the homeless, who often loiter in its waiting rooms and sometimes harass commuters. Particularly in the winter, some of the homeless retreat to the station’s tunnels and underground passages.

Those injured in the fires included 17 passengers on one train who were taken to hospitals. Officials said two firefighters ran out of portable oxygen and had to be rescued by companions.

The fires halted rail service from the city’s northern suburbs.