by CHUCK BENNETT
Fire marshals backed away yesterday from the theory that a homeless person set a Brooklyn subway track blaze that prompted the evacuation of 4,000 evening rush-hour commuters. "It looks like an accidental fire," FDNY spokesman Farrell Sklerov said of the Wednesday blaze on the B line. "It does not appear related to a homeless person or homeless people." Investigators found rubbish such as paper cups, paper bags, wrappers and cigarette butts, but no other signs of a homeless encampment where the fire started, about 1,000 feet into the subway tunnel from the DeKalb Avenue station. It was unlikely that sparks from a passing train ignited the wooden track tie - a piece of wood that supports the rails - because the rubbish pile was 15 feet away from the tracks. "It's possibly from careless smoking but that has not been ascertained," said Sklerov. The affected B and D trains ran on a normal schedule yesterday. New York City Transit said the cause of the fire is being investigated. More than two dozen people received minor injuries in the incident near the Manhattan Bridge. The blaze snarled bridge-area traffic as well as service on multiple train lines. While homeless people are seen sleeping on trains and in stations, they seldom make homes in the tunnels, said Patrick Markee, senior policy analyst at the Coalition for the Homeless.
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