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Train Operator Killed in a Subway Fire in Manhattan Train Operator Is Killed in a Subway Fire in Manhattan
(about 2 hours later)
A subway train operator was killed early Friday after a fire that investigators believe may have been intentionally set erupted inside a train car at a station along the northern edge of Central Park, officials said. Growing up in Brooklyn, Garrett Goble dreamed of being a police officer. But as he got older and started a family, he decided law enforcement was too dangerous. Instead, he found a job as a subway train operator — a much safer option, he thought.
The fire was reported as a No. 2 train pulled into the station and the train conductor alerted the operator that there was heavy smoke and fire in the second car of the train, said Brian McGee, a deputy chief of detectives. Danger found him anyway.
When the train stopped at the station, 110th Street Central Park North, around 3:18 a.m., passengers were evacuated by the conductor, operator and another transit worker who was riding the train on his way to work. As Mr. Goble pulled his No. 2 train into a station along the northern edge of Central Park early Friday, he heard the train’s conductor yell that there was heavy smoke and fire in the front of the train, one car away from where Mr. Goble sat.
But when emergency workers arrived on the scene the operator, Garrett Goble, was found lying on the tracks, officials said. In a mad dash, he and the conductor rushed to evacuate passengers as fire consumed the car. His colleague then managed to escape the smoke-filled station.
Officials suspect Mr. Goble, 36, was trying to flee from the burning train into the subway tunnel, when he was overcome by smoke and collapsed. He was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital early Friday morning. But Mr. Goble did not. When emergency workers arrived, they found him lying unconscious on the tracks, officials said. They believe he was trying to flee from the burning train into the subway tunnel when he was overcome by smoke and collapsed.
Police were investigating the fire and believe it may be connected to two other fires in the transit system in Manhattan, one at 86th Street station and another at 96th Street station, that were also reported around 3:15 a.m. Friday. Mr. Goble, 36, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhttan. Investigators think the fire was started intentionally.
A third fire on the street level was reported later in the morning at the 116th Street station. “I wouldn’t have expected it to be any different,” said Earl Holland, 59, his longtime neighbor in Brooklyn after hearing reports that Mr. Goble was trying to save passengers.
“We are devastated by this, this is a hard moment for New York City Transit,” Sarah Feinberg, interim president of New York City Transit, said at a news conference on Friday morning. “Being a motorman on a train is like being the captain of a ship,” Mr. Holland added. “It doesn’t go down without you trying to save everyone on board.”
As the fire raged, a second subway car stopped just short of the station, after which emergency workers evacuated its passengers out of the subway tunnel through an emergency exit, Ms. Feinberg said. Police investigators said that the fire, which broke out around 3:15 a.m., might be connected to two other fires in Manhattan early Friday: one at the 86th Street station on the No. 1 line, and another at the 96th Street station on the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 lines.
A photo circulating among emergency workers of the train car shows a shell of a car with blackened walls, melted seats and loose wires hanging from overhead. A third fire on the street level was reported later in the morning at the 116th Street station on the Nos. 2 and 3 lines.
Ms. Feinberg confirmed that there was “extensive damage” in that car at a news conference. As the fire at the 110th Street Central Park North stop raged, a second subway car stopped just short of the station. Workers evacuated its passengers out of the tunnel through an emergency exit, transit officials said.
News of the fatal incident shook the community of transit workers Friday morning, and devastated Mr. Goble’s family. A photo circulating among emergency workers of the burned train shows a shell of a car, with blackened walls, melted seats and loose wires hanging down.
“My heart is broken,” his cousin, Yolanda Strudwick, said in a phone interview. Sarah Feinberg, interim president of New York City Transit, confirmed there was “extensive damage” in the car at a news conference.
Mr. Goble grew up in Brooklyn and spent many of his summers in Jamestown, N.Y., a city in the western part of the state near the Pennsylvania border, with his grandparents and a gaggle of other family members, she said. “We are devastated by this,” Ms. Feinberg said. “This is a hard moment for New York City Transit.”
She describes him as a “social butterfly,” who always made the people around him laugh and who would do anything for his wife and two young sons, an 11-year-old and a 5-month-old. Seventeen other people, including five firefighters, were injured in the blaze, according to a spokesman for the New York Fire Department.
“He would give the shirt off his back to those he loved, even to strangers as we can see today,” Ms. Strudwick said. “For him to do this and risk his life for someone he didn’t know, that’s just the kind of person he was.” Four people were in critical condition on Friday morning after suffering from smoke inhalation, and another person was in serious condition, but the injuries were not life-threatening. The five firefighters sustained minor injuries.
Seventeen other people, including five firefighters, were injured, according to a spokesman for the New York Fire Department. Four people were in critical condition after suffering from smoke inhalation, and another person was in serious condition but the injuries were not life-threatening Friday morning. The five firefighters suffered minor injuries. News of the fatal incident shook the community of transit workers — two other colleagues died in the last two days after contracting the coronavirus — and devastated Mr. Goble’s family and friends.
More than 100 emergency personnel responded and the fire was brought under control at about 3:50 a.m., he said. At about 6:45 a.m. firefighters were still working to extinguish the flames. “He was an excellent father and a good man, and anyone who knew him would love him,” said Katherine Gray, his longtime neighbor. “We’re going to miss him terribly.”
Video from outside the station shows plumes of black smoke pouring out of the sidewalk grates as the fire raged in the early morning. Mr. Goble grew up in the Flatlands neighborhood in Brooklyn, Ms. Gray said. She and his mother, Victoria Goble, raised him after his father died of an illness when he was in elementary school.
It is unclear how the fire began or whether it started inside or outside the car, said Lieutenant Thomas Antonetti, a spokesman for the New York Police Department. “He wasn’t my biological son, but I considered him my son,” Ms. Gray said in her doorway with tears in her eyes.
“That’s what they’re trying to ascertain,” he said of the fire investigators on the scene Friday morning. Mr. Goble was a standout gymnast at South Shore High School in Brooklyn, which no longer exists. Ms. Gray said that he was of such slim build that her son and his friends, who played football, would lift Mr. Goble for weight training. He loved being around his friends, she said.
Police say no arrests have been made but they are investigating the incident as a criminal matter and are looking into the possibility that the fire was set intentionally. After he finished school, Mr. Goble initially wanted to be a New York Police Department officer, Ms. Gray and two other neighbors said.
On Friday afternoon, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the subway, announced that it was offering up to $50,000 for information that could help police identify anyone who may be responsible for the fire. But, fearing the job could put his life at risk, he joined the Metropolitan Transportation Authority instead, eventually working his way up to train operator, a job that Mrs. Gray said he took “to better himself.”
The agency suspended some service on the No. 2 and No. 3 lines Friday morning, with delays on the No. 4 and No. 5 lines as well. Yolanda Strudwick, his cousin, called Mr. Goble “ hard worker.” “He just wanted to provide for his wife and kids and make sure they had everything they needed,” she said.
The fatal fire comes at a particularly painful time for the transit agency: The train operator killed Friday morning was the third death among the transit authority’s front line workers in just 36 hours. Shirley Holland, 84, a neighbor, said Mr. Goble encouraged her grandson to consider a career with the M.T.A., which runs the subway. Mr. Goble considered his profession “something I can do to make a decent living,” she said.
When he was not working, his family said, he spent time tossing a ball around in his yard with his oldest son, who is 11, and taking his youngest son, who is a few months old, to soccer games.
“He would give the shirt off his back to those he loved,” Ms. Strudwick said. “Even to strangers, as we can see today. For him to do this and risk his life for someone he didn’t know, that’s just the kind of person he was.”
The police said that as of Friday evening no arrests had been made, but they were investigating the deadly fire as a crime. It was unclear how the fire began or whether it started inside or outside the car, said Lieutenant Thomas Antonetti, a Police Department spokesman.
The M.T.A. announced that it was offering up to $50,000 for information that could help the police identify anyone who may be responsible for the fire.
The fatal fire comes at a particularly painful time for the transit agency: The train operator killed on Friday morning was the third death among the transit authority’s front-line workers in just 36 hours.
On Thursday, a 61-year-old bus operator, Oliver Cyrus, and a 49-year old train conductor, Peter Petrassi, died from the coronavirus, according to transit union officials. As of Wednesday, 52 transit workers had tested positive for the virus.On Thursday, a 61-year-old bus operator, Oliver Cyrus, and a 49-year old train conductor, Peter Petrassi, died from the coronavirus, according to transit union officials. As of Wednesday, 52 transit workers had tested positive for the virus.
“For this to happen, after we lost two of our union brothers to the coronavirus, is hard to comprehend,” said Tony Utano, president of the Transit Workers Union Local 100 which represents the majority of the city’s transit workers. “These may be the darkest days that TWU Local 100 has gone through.” “For this to happen, after we lost two of our union brothers to the coronavirus, is hard to comprehend,” said Tony Utano, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents the majority of the city’s transit workers. “These may be the darkest days that TWU Local 100 has gone through.”
Maria Cramer and Edgar Sandoval contributed reporting. Alain Delaquérière contributed research.Maria Cramer and Edgar Sandoval contributed reporting. Alain Delaquérière contributed research.