Garden City Car Fire on LIRR Tracks 03/23/2022

On Wednesday, March 23rd at 6:22p, the Garden City Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a Car Fire on the LIRR Tracks in the vicinity of Whitehall Blvd and North Ave. 2nd Assistant Chief Taunton [1402] was quickly on the scene and confirmed an active car fire on the LIRR Tracks. With the car resting across the third rail of both tracks, a stop order as well as a shutdown of the third rail on the Hempstead Branch of the LIRR was requested while crews operated on scene. Once power was removed from the tracks, crews operated 1 handline off Engine 142 to extinguish the car fire with the assistance of Franklin Square Rescue 719. The occupant of the vehicle escaped from the vehicle and was transported to a local hospital in an unknown condition. The Hempstead Branch remained shut down for hours while LIRR crews worked to clear and repair the tracks. All fire department operations were under the direction of Chief of Department Moody [1400].