musician ron lipsius arrives at the station on one of these trains. >> we notice these two men, i don't think they were in uniform, but they were blocking, physically blocking entrance to the wooden escalators on our left, the ones that directly go to the train. we thought, that's strange. it was actually a tiny bit hazy in there, too. we noticed that, too. a little smoky. >> firemen see a small fire burning halfway up the escalators bringing passengers from the tracks up to the ticket hall. >> a very experienced fire officer looked down the escalator and assessed the fire as being, it is about the size of a cardboard box. >> but firefighter colin townsley spots something he believes is dangerous. he calls firefighters above ground, asking for more equipment and saying, people are in danger. >> he, through his experience, had seen something going on above the fire, wherever he could see, he knew something bad was about to happen. >> on the train platform below, passengers are now being urged to get out. the quickest escape route is up another bank of escalators near the fire. these, too