Outbreaks of Fire, Smoke Shut Down Metro Stations

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, was fear and bewilderment.

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.

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

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.

Antonio Valenzuela said he spotted smoke coming from the engine compartment of the bus before it left Metro Center. He said he told people, in reference to the evening's ordeal, "Now this bus is about to blow up." As soon as the bus left, he said, "flames erupted from the back."

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 catch a train at Foggy Bottom station, where smoke was reported but which was not one of the stations 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 Foggy Bottom, which turned out to be a mistake because of the smoke there.