(1) You be the judge. In a statement today Metro says there's "no evidence" in last night's Red Line fire "a train was directed to perform a track inspection where there was report of smoke or fire." But the radio traffic seems to show there may actually be some evidence. (more)
(2) This episode started the exact same way as the tragic 2015 L'Enfant Plaza fire that killed Carol Glover -- with a fire alarm from a Metro pumping station connected to a Metro tunnel (@NTSB report excerpts below). Only this time the alarm was received & Metro reacted. (more)
(3) LISTEN: Radio traffic shows Metro sent a supervisor to the alarm & Rail Operations Control Center (ROCC) initially tried to reach Train 108 to stop at Woodley Park. But the controller couldn't reach the operator of Train 108 before he left Woodley with his passengers. (more)
(4) LISTEN: At 9:11:03 the controller says quite clearly, 3 times, they want Train 108 with passengers aboard to perform a "track inspection". Metro wanted 108 & its passengers to determine if there's smoke or fire to go with that smoke alarm. 108 acknowledged the order. (more)
(5) My question is now that ROCC had clear radio contact with Train 108 why wasn't the order given to STOP immediately and have 108 return to Woodley Park? Why continue to send them toward potential danger? That's not explained in Metro's statement. (more)
(6) LISTEN: A little more than two minutes after being ordered to head towards potential danger Train 108 found it. Arcing & sparking on the right wall of the tunnel. Train 108 stopped. It took at least 20 minutes to get them back to Woodley Park. (more)
(7) There's important history here you should know. For decades, @wmata sent passengers to check for fires & other dangers. In 2000 it trapped & injured scores of riders during a Foggy Bottom electrical fire. But Metro continued taking passengers along on inspections. (more)
(8) When Carol Glover's train became trapped after being sent to find smoke in January 2015 @NTSB told Metro to stop sending passengers to look for smoke and fire. Metro complied ... sort of. (more)
(9) In Dec 2019 & Feb 2020 STATter911 found two incidents where passengers were sent to look for smoke or fire. In one, people were stuck in a tunnel smelling smoke for 50 minutes. @MetrorailSafety came down hard on Metro. (more) statter911.com/2020/03/03/met…
(10) Metro's workers were splitting hairs over what constituted smoke or fire (arcing, sparking, etc). In March 2020 @wmata cleared it up, telling @justingeorge & me that no passengers will be on any train doing any kind of track inspection. (more) washingtonpost.com/transportation…
(11) Now that you've heard the radio traffic & know the context is Metro correct there's "no evidence a train was directed to perform a track inspection where there was report of smoke or fire"? Or is Metro again splitting hairs over orders meant to keep the public safe?
(12) BTW, in case you don't hit ALT to see the image description, this picture of @dcfireems at Saturday's fire on the Red Line is from @knolkatie who was a passenger on one of the trains that off-loaded at Dupont amid the smoke.
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