Outbreaks of Fire, Smoke Shut Down Metro Stations

Catoe said it was possible that the events attested to the aging of equipment in the 30-year-old system.

The incidents began about 5:45 p.m. at the Mount Vernon Square station near the Washington Convention Center with a report of smoke on the tracks. The last incident occurred a few minutes after 8 p.m. and prompted the closing of the Farragut West Station at 18th and I streets.

The station at National Airport shut down about 6 p.m. and was the last to reopen, at 9:30 p.m.

Farbstein gave the following account of the incidents: Smoke was reported near Mount Vernon Square as the result of an insulator problem. Green and Yellow Line trains were single-tracked between Mount Vernon and Shaw-Howard University Station, until normal service resumed at 8:02 p.m., Farbstein said.

At 5:52 p.m., fire broke out in an equipment room near tracks at the airport station, which serves the Blue and Yellow lines. The room, apparently near where the trains emerge from belowground, contained electrical components.

At 6:30 p.m., fire was reported at Huntington Station, the Fairfax County terminus of the Yellow Line. The fire, on a track in a storage and staging area for trains, prompted the brief closing of the station. It soon reopened, with only the southbound entrance closed, and the entire station reopened shortly after 8 p.m.

At 7:08 p.m., a smoldering cable inside Farragut North Station forced it to close. It reopened about 8:50 p.m.

A brake problem on a train traveling between Foggy Bottom and Farragut West led to the 8:25 p.m. closing of Farragut West Station. The station reopened about 9 p.m.

Trains had been permitted to pass through the station but not to stop. The brake problem apparently led to reports of smoke at the Foggy Bottom and Rosslyn stations.

Staff writers David A. Fahrenthold, Mary Beth Sheridan, Lena H. Sun and Nikita Stewart contributed to this report.