Amtrak passengers stranded as Florida wildfire forces return

Florida wildfire strands Amtrak passengers in northern Florida. A train to New York City was forced to turn back. People were left on board for more than 24 hours. This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The train left Miami on Sunday morning. It did not return to Miami until Monday night, as CBS Miami reported.

John Reardon lives in New York City. He said he boarded in Miami at about 7 a.m. Sunday to travel home. He said the train stopped near Jacksonville at around 3 p.m.

“Angry, confused, uncertain, in the dark,” said John Reardon.

Reardon said passengers waited for hours. Then they were told the train would not continue north. It would instead return to Miami.

“Finally, after about 5 hours, they said we’re not going to New York, we’re going back to Miami,” Reardon said. “One stop at a time.”

Train turns back and returns to Miami

Another passenger, Katrinia Wheeler, said Amtrak sent a phone notification. It said the wildfire was too close to the railway. The train could not keep going.

“Amtrak sends a notification to the phone saying, ‘Hey, there’s an issue with the wildfire, it’s too close to the railway,’” said passenger Katrinia Wheeler.

She said she saw heavy smoke coming from the woods. She also saw fire trucks and emergency crews.

“I saw that there was a lot of smoke coming from the woods, and then I saw the fire trucks and emergency services,” Wheeler said.

Passengers were frustrated. One passenger said he had been on board for about 38 hours. That was by the time the train got back to Miami.

Amtrak said the train could not continue north because of the Putnam County wildfire. The company said the decision was made for passenger safety. Affected customers would receive full refunds and vouchers, according to FOX 35 Orlando.

At the same time, crews were battling multiple fires in two Florida counties. At least 3,000 acres had burned, as CBS Miami reported.

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