Outbreaks of Fire, Smoke Shut Down Metro Stations
Hundreds of Passengers Scramble as All 5 Rail Lines Affected

By Martin Weil and Elissa Silverman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, August 27, 2007

Five separate outbreaks of fire or smoke on the Metrorail system shut down several stations and halted train service in spots last night, in a series of disruptions that appeared to be without precedent in the system's 30-year history.

Each of the incidents, which occurred within a two-hour period, appeared to stem from a different cause, Metro officials said. But the overall effect, which sent hundreds of confused passengers scrambling, seemed unnerving and bewildering.

All affected stations had reopened by 9:30 p.m., and service was expected to be normal today. Even so, Metro's general manager, John B. Catoe Jr., said extra supervisors will be on duty this morning.

The closures, in Virginia and the District, affected all five rail lines. Compounding the almost unavoidable sense of an evening on the verge of chaos, one of the shuttle buses used to carry passengers around the closed stations caught fire in downtown Washington. One person tripped and fell while getting off the burning bus. No other injuries were reported.

"We could not catch a break tonight," Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.

An official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Chris Geldart, said one thing was clear: "There is no terrorist nexus."

In addition to the heavily used Reagan National Airport station, the Huntington, Farragut North and Farragut West stations all were closed for a time, Farbstein said.

Andres Canessa, 31, tried to take a train at the Foggy Bottom station, where smoke was reported but which was not one of those that Metro formally listed as closed. But Canessa said he could not remain on the platform. "It was difficult to breathe down there," he said.

Ravi Khanna, 31, who was trying to get to Silver Spring after flying to National Airport from Detroit, described "a mob of people in line for the shuttle buses."

Speaking of himself and his girlfriend, he said, "We didn't weigh enough to push our way in." So, he said, they took a cab to the Foggy Bottom station, which turned out to be a mistake because of the smoke there. The two decided to wait things out by having dinner.

Farbstein said each of the smoke and fire incidents will be investigated. She said Metro was also "looking into the possibility that one or more may be related."

No indication of any connection among the incidents was known last night. Farbstein called the situation a "bizarre series of incidents" that all gave the initial impression of being "very different."

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.