Courage, anguish on tracks

Responders flew to T crash scene

Frustrated again and again, Newton firefighters worked desperately to get the operator of a crumpled and teetering MBTA trolley car out from under the wreckage of Wednesday's two-train crash on the Green Line's D branch.

"It was jack-knifed, on edge, teetering," Assistant Fire Chief Bruce Proia said of the trolley. "A lot of cribbing and shaving was needed to work on it, just to protect rescuers from the train falling down on them."

Every time it appeared they had sheared through enough metal to rescue 24-year-old MBTA operator Terrese Edmonds of Boston, there would be a problem, and they were forced to begin again with another approach. The tense drama played out until Edmonds was pronounced dead at about 9:15 p.m. by a Boston MedFlight doctor, said Proia.

But the team's work was not finished.

It wasn't until nearly four hours after Edmonds died, just before 1 a.m., that her body was extricated from the trolley's twisted metal, officials said.

The rush-hour crisis tested Newton's emergency response system. The crash, in which one trolley rear-ended another, threw commuters from their seats and injured at least 12 people, as well as causing the death of Edmonds.

City spokesman Jeremy Solomon, who had attended an emergency preparedness meeting with the city's police, fire, hospital, and municipal leaders earlier on the day of the crash, called the response "reassuring."

"We responded quickly, professionally, and with great dignity," Solomon said. "The operation, under very trying circumstances, was remarkable."

Newton police were the first to respond to the 5:55 p.m. call from neighbors about a train crash and fire, city officials said.

Police helped create a security perimeter, and arrange a screening process to check the condition of passengers who were already walking away from the crash scene.

One 30-year-old Newton resident, a passenger on the trolley driven by Edmonds, said he heard her moaning when he stepped off the train. He also heard several people reassure Edmonds that help was on the way. The witness was among at least nine patients treated for minor injuries at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

A nearby resident said he tried to help put out the small fire near the crash, and was treated at Newton-Wellesley for smoke inhalation.

Minutes after police arrived, Newton firefighters from one ladder and three engine companies arrived on the scene, city officials said.

They called in more help: two ladder and two engine companies, as well as MedFlight, which airlifted one seriously injured passenger to Boston Medical Center. Six passengers were taken by ambulance to area hospitals. The walking wounded were taken for triage to Brae Burn Country Club, or went to the emergency room on their own.

By the time Solomon and Mayor David Cohen arrived on the scene at about 6:30 p.m., Solomon said, all of the passengers had left the scene and efforts to extricate Edmonds were underway. MBTA officials estimated there were between 180 and 200 passengers on the two trolleys.

Other agencies provided equipment and support, including the Wellesley, Needham, and Braintree fire departments, Boston Fire Department's Rescue 1, American Medical Rescue, and MBTA and State Police officers. Both Woodlands and Brae Burn golf courses also lent support.

"The most challenging part was when it became clear there was no hope of saving the life of the operator," Solomon said.

"Firefighters do their job, and signed up for the job in order to save lives. They knew that no matter what they did at that point, it was not going to save this life."

The "time-consuming and difficult" recovery effort, Proia said, required rescuers to use many methods. "We used many different tactics to find the best way to get her out," he said.

In the meanwhile, residential streets near the crash site, between the Green Line's Waban and Woodland stations, were closed.

There weren't any major traffic issues, even during rush hour, because the crash was located between MBTA stops and away from major thoroughfares, Solomon said.

Cohen, who briefed the media shortly after 1 a.m., was at the scene to help troubleshoot, Solomon said, including helping ensure rescue workers had the resources they needed, providing support for the local emergency personnel, and making sure that Edmonds's family was notified.

City officials expressed their sadness and condolences for the driver's family and friends, and also gratitude that more people were not seriously injured.

"When you consider that maybe 200 people were on the train," Proia said, "that's pretty extraordinary."

Rachana Rathi can be reached at rrathi@globe.com.