SAN FRANCISCO -- A fire erupted on the top of a San Francisco Muni T-Line Metro subway train Friday afternoon, filling the crowded Embarcadero Station with smoke and forcing riders to scramble for the exits.

San Francisco Fire Department Spokeswoman Lt. Mindy Talmadge said firefighters were greeted with a frightening scene when they arrive at the combined Muni and BART station at 1:47 p.m.

"We got a report of smoke in the Muni station and when we arrived on the scene we could see flames on the top of the Muni car," she said.

"Firefighters got some CO2 extinguishers, extinguished the fire. There was a lot of smoke in the area so we evacuated the station, stopped the Muni service temporarily, and stopped BART from stopping at the station."

About 2,000 people were evacuated from the station including frightened passengers from the burning train.

Among those forced to flee the station was Sylvia Reyes.

"When we turned around we just saw a big, old cloud of smoke," she said. "We did a quick U-turn and got out of there."

According to Muni spokesman Alan Siegel, the fire began in the air conditioning unit on top of the T-line train. The station was reopened at about 2:30 p.m. but full Muni service was not expected to resume until water was removed from the station.

BART trains were stopping at the station.

No injuries were reported and Muni officials were investigating the incident.