Newark Airport Evacuated for Transformer Fire... Developing...

[link to www.nbcnewyork.com (secure)]


A transformer caught fire underneath a terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport Friday morning, forcing officials to evacuate a smoke filled concourse wing and put the airport on backup generators.

Travelers snaked around the ticketing areas of Terminal C on Friday afternoon as massive security screening delays built up following the fire that sent a column of flames spewing from the ground underneath the C1 wing about 11 a.m. A spokesman for United Airlines, the only airline that has flights out of the terminal, said the delays were primarily because screening stations were shut down for some amount of time after the fire.

The airport said in a tweet that the fire was also causing delays for arriving passengers hoping to pick up luggage just a week after a spate of mishaps caused tens of thousands of flyers to become separated from their bags at JFK Airport.