BART passengers evacuated from smoking train at MacArthur Station

OAKLAND, Calif. - Passengers aboard a BART train were evacuated at an Oakland station Monday afternoon after fire and smoke were reported on the train, according to the transit agency.

BART said there were reports of smoke and fire coming from the end of an eastbound train heading from 19th Street Station to MacArthur Station around 2:30 p.m.

Passengers were evacuated from the train at MacArthur Station. Riders told KTVU they heard a popping noise followed by heavy smoke billowing toward the front of the train.

The origin of the fire or smoke was unclear. Some passengers had to pull the emergency brake system because of the smoke.

No injuries were reported, the transit agency said. However, KTVU saw some people being transported away by ambulance.

Mariam Ghvamichava, a law student who was heading home to Berkeley on the train, evacuated the packed train along with dozens of other people around 2:30 p.m. after a passenger opened an emergency door, she said. 

There were no announcements over the intercom system, according to Ghvamichava, and the only way people in her car knew there was an issue was because people from other cars began migrating away from what appeared to be smoke from one car.  

"It was a scary situation," she said.  

A BART spokesperson said on the agency's recorded media line that "all passengers were evacuated off the train," but Ghvamichava said that, at least in her car, no one told anyone to get off the train.  

Another spokesperson for BART, Alicia Trost, said at 5 p.m. that it was too soon to confirm whether announcements about the situation and how to get to safety were made.  

Ghvamichava said it began with the train coming to halt near the MacArthur station and then just sitting there. She said she assumed it was just technical difficulties, but then she saw passengers rapidly moving into her car.  

"A lot of people rushed from the other cabin, and when they came into our cabin, they were a little bit panicking," she said. 

Ghvamichava said there was a debate among passengers about what to do, and eventually someone just opened the emergency door and other passengers in different cars were also getting out.

"We know that riders on board did pull the self-evacuation door release," said BART. 

Ghvamichava said she was alarmed to learn after she had gotten to safety that there is an electrified "third rail" that runs along the BART track and that no one assisted anyone in getting off the train. 

She recorded a video of people de-training and walking along the tracks.  

"It's really scary, because I didn't know there was that kind of electricity going on there," she said. "And in the video you can actually see how close those people are walking on there."  

At 4:45 p.m., a spokesperson for BART said that the cause of the smoke was "train connector shoe interfering with the third rail."  

Trost said that the smoke was likely caused by electrical arcing, which is not fire but looks like fire. 

"Once the Train Operator saw people leaving the train, they got out to help them," said Trost.  

Ghvamichava said fire and police personnel were there once everyone got to safety, and BART offered vouchers to the displaced passengers.

The transit agency said normal service resumed around 4:22 p.m.

Bay City News' Katy St. Clair contributed to this story.