BY FRED SULLIVAN
On May 28, 2008, at approximately 6 p.m., two outbound MBTA Green Line Light Rail Vehicle trolleys collided in Newton, Massachusetts. Up to 200 passengers were estimated to be aboard the four cars.
The first two-car trolley stopped for a red traffic signal and was starting to accelerate when it was struck by a faster moving second two-car trolley. The impact knocked the rear car of the first trolley off the tracks to the left. The front car of the second trolley rode up over the left of the rear of the first trolley. Its front truck assembly dislodged to the left, landing on the inbound tracks. The front end of the car buckled downward on impact and crashed onto the tracks and ballast, collapsing the front end even more, curling it into the shape of a clenched fist. The midpoint of the left side of the trolley landed on a protrusion of the separated truck assembly, causing the trolley to lean to the right. The operator’s section was folded under the car. Small fires started outside toward the rear of the car, likely from the damaged pantograph and overhead wires.
CASUALTIES
The Newton (MA) Fire Department responded to the given home address of the caller, who directed personnel to the tracks behind his house. They found two badly damaged cars with several casualties. Uninjured passengers were walking to the Waban and Woodland stations several hundred yards away. Multiple reports triggered a mutual-aid response from four communities, to respond to the scene or to cover Newton’s vacant firehouses.
The most seriously injured passenger was a woman seated behind the operator; her legs were pinned where the roof and the floor collapsed at a designed “pinch point” several feet from the front end. Members of two Newton ladder companies brought two sets of hydraulic rescue tools down a 20-foot embankment to the track bed. They operated the spreaders on each side of the woman’s legs to separate the roof from the floor. Firefighters removed and treated her and a Med-Flight helicopter transported her to Boston Medical Center’s trauma unit.
 (1) Boston Fire Department photos by Bill Noonan. |
Newton firefighters triaged the injured and, with Needham and Wellesley firefighters, treated and packaged seven passengers, who were removed to a mass-casualty incident (MCI) treatment area that had been established at the adjacent golf course and transported by ambulance to nearby Newton-Wellesley Hospital. The Newton firefighters then located the MBTA operator, who was trapped in the wreckage and determined to be deceased during the first hour of operations. Responders needed more resources before they could extricate her.
Boston Fire Alarm dispatched for the regional Mutual Aid Network, which offered the services of Boston’s Technical Rescue Team OneRescue 1, Tower Ladder 3, and Engine 10. Also dispatched were District 11 as mutual-aid chief, District 9 as technical rescue chief, and the fire investigation unit photographer.
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On arrival, the Boston companies met with the Newton firefighters and officers and were briefed on the incident. They jointly conducted a size-up, both around the trolley and inside the car. Newton firefighters had begun initial stabilization of the trolley with cribbing. As firefighters pried the trolley with hydraulic spreaders and rams, the vehicle listed to the right from its cribbing. Members continually checked and tightened the cribbing.
Boston’s two chiefs arrived and conferred with Newton Assistant Chief Bruce Proia and Deputy Chief Israel Jimenez. They discussed the plan of action and determined it to be appropriate for the existing conditions.
RECOVERY OF TROLLEY OPERATOR
Initial efforts to access the operator’s position were through the front of the trolley at track level. This area was actually the roof panels. The sheet metal was comparatively easy to cut through but did not provide sufficient internal opening. Members used hydraulic spreaders and rams alternately to create a larger opening, but the openings were still too small to enter. When the rams pushed the metal away, it stayed in place, not returning at all. Blocking was used to augment the spreaders and rams’ extension. Newton and Boston firefighters took turns working alone and in pairs. They conferred after each phase, keeping all abreast of the progress and the obstacles still to be overcome. The operator was still too entangled and inaccessible to be moved.
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Newton Engine Co. 7 Lieutenant Jay Bourgeois responded while off duty. His experience with the FEMA Massachusetts Urban Search and Rescue Team was put to use. He was briefed on the damage and the progress made at the front end. Further size-up of the interior offered the potential for top-down access through the floorboards. The flooring was cut away with a power saw to expose the heavy-gauge steel frame. An oxyacetylene torch was used with limited success. Two protective hoselines were used, one inside the car and the other from outside on the exposed lower section. The MBTA provided an exothermic cutting torch with a higher operating temperature. It was difficult to cut through the frame. A large gap remained to reach the folded floor of the forward part of the car. Little progress was made against the tough frame after using several cutting rods. The hole left insufficient room to access the lower frame and floor. The interior attack was abandoned after joint evaluation.
The MBTA rerailing team arrived and provided more equipment to raise the trolley. The MBTA and firefighters conferred, detailing the progress and the remaining difficulties of inadequate access. Earlier placement of two bottle jacks blocked the only lift points the MBTA needed to position the metal beam. The rerailing team and firefighters blocked and cribbed the trolley for removal of the jacks. The firefighters stood back and took their only break in the six-hour extrication while the rerailing team set the metal beam in place atop more blocking and their hydraulic jacks. The trolley was carefully raised until they had a two-foot clearance to the track bed.
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After another joint size-up was completed, a new plan of attack was formed. The spreaders and rams now had better access to the operator’s area, and teams of two could work around the victim. Progress was made so that they could move the operator’s torso partially out of the trolley, but her legs were folded up behind her in the inverted seat. The crushed compartment allowed no further access to remove the seat.
The firefighters and MBTA personnel conferred about an alternate point of entry. They determined it may be possible to come in from behind the operator if an external 400-pound electrical unit on the left side was removed. It was just ahead of the left jack, partially shielded by crumpled body panels. Members cut away the panels and carefully removed the large electrical box. Again, cutters, spreaders, and rams were used to create space to access the operator’s compartment. From this vantage point, it was determined that the mounting post for the operator’s seat had to be removed to allow release of the victim’s legs. The cutters had no effect on the post. A ram placed at the post’s mid-point pushed the seat sideways, decreasing the space for maneuvering. Releasing the ram pressure returned the seat to its earlier position.
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The ram was placed against the base of the post, and pressure was reapplied, quickly snapping the post. Newton firefighters slowly removed the sheet-covered victim at the front as a team on the left side untangled her legs from the bent seat.
All members removed their helmets as a sign of respect for the victim as firefighters prepared the body for transport by the medical examiner’s staff. Her body was protected from additional injury at all times during the extrication. Bunker coats were soaked and used to cover the victim to shield her from sparks and slag from the saw and the cutting torches. At all other times, her body was covered with a sheet to keep her from public view of the neighbors and the media at the top of the slope.
LESSONS LEARNED/REINFORCED
• Initial size-up. The scope of the accident was quickly assessed. Triage and treatment began immediately. One trapped rider was evaluated and promptly extricated. Sufficient ambulances and a Med-Flight helicopter swiftly removed all the injured MBTA patrons to hospitals.
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The District 11 chief responded on mutual aid with Boston companies to coordinate activities with the incident commander as well as to function as a safety chief for the Boston companies. The District 9 chief, as technical rescue chief, oversaw the rescue/recovery operation.
The MBTA responded quickly with track crews, rerailing crews, trolley specialists, inspectors, police officers, and all levels of management up through General Manager Daniel Grabauskas and Carmen’s Union Local 589 President Stephan MacDougall. Their expertise was invaluable throughout the extrication process. The MBTA technicians provided tools, equipment, and trolley-specific information that hastened the removal of the operator.
Boston’s two rescue companies have since trained on the use of plasma torches and oxy-gasoline cutting torches with the Ironworkers Union Local 7. The tools were not available at the time; the MBTA donated them.
The fire profession functions with teamwork, whether it is a medical call, vehicle accident, haz-mat incident, brush fire, or multiple alarm. Each member has a role at every incident, and their actions are coordinated skillfully. The timing and efficiency are developed over time and are honed with frequent training to update skills to match changes in materials and technologies. This is evident when different departments function as one seamlessly in the most difficult situations. The Newton and Boston Fire Departments rarely operate at the same incidents, yet their coordinated efforts to recover the trolley operator with dignity belie that fact. This mutual-aid incident highlighted the common traits of education, training, teamwork, and the personal skills of our diverse firefighters.
FRED SULLIVAN retired after 36 years with the Boston (MA) Fire Department, the past 20 years as a district chief. He has been involved with the Technical Rescue Teams for the past five years. Sullivan has a B.S. degree in fire science.
