How could it tale 40 minutes to evacuate the train? http://t.co/mj3PgBvRHJ just awful. Never evr taking dc metro
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) January 13, 2015
Welp. Never riding Metro again.
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) January 16, 2015
The presumed electrical fire on a Washington, D.C., commuter rail line that left one person dead earlier this week and sent more than 80 to the hospital is under investigation, and as reporter Paul Wagner has found, a lot went terribly wrong during the rescue effort.
Two sources with knowledge of Metro incident say firefighter radios did not work inside tunnel. Officials used cell phones to get info out.
— Paul Wagner (@Fox5Wagner) January 13, 2015
Sources say antennas inside tunnel were not working and had not been for several days. FF's used line of sight communication and phones.
— Paul Wagner (@Fox5Wagner) January 13, 2015
First arriving firefighters on Metro incident at L'enfant plaza station say exhaust fans were not immediately operational.
— Paul Wagner (@Fox5Wagner) January 13, 2015
First arriving firefighters say there was no long delay in getting third rail turned off. So, why do passengers say they waited 40 mins?
— Paul Wagner (@Fox5Wagner) January 13, 2015
.@NTSB preliminary report on Monday's deadly DC METRO rail smoke incident: Here's the damaged third rail —-> pic.twitter.com/CdUwNlKlOU
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) January 16, 2015
Document obtained by Fox 5 says passengers inside all but 2 of smoke filled Metro cars could NOT find handle to open doors.
— Paul Wagner (@Fox5Wagner) January 14, 2015
Document obtained by Fox 5 gives first hand account of train rescue–says emergency release handles were behind panel with screws.
— Paul Wagner (@Fox5Wagner) January 14, 2015
Timeline on Metro emergency at L'enfant raises a number of questions. Why did it take 6 minutes for 911 to dispatch firefighters to scene?
— Paul Wagner (@Fox5Wagner) January 15, 2015
NEW: 3 sources confirm–driver of smoke filled Metro train could not back out of tunnel because new train blocking its path had NO driver.
— Paul Wagner (@Fox5Wagner) January 16, 2015
Sources familiar with investigation say driver of train that pulled into smoke filled L'enfant station–abandoned the train.
— Paul Wagner (@Fox5Wagner) January 16, 2015
Here's more: the reason the driver abandoned the train is unclear. Was he/she ordered to? By police? By supervisor? or needed fresh air.
— Paul Wagner (@Fox5Wagner) January 16, 2015
The blame game is well underway.
Metro tragedy must be wake-up call for local leaders. This week's incident exposes troublesome vulnerabilities & awful contingency planning.
— James Hohmann (@jameshohmann) January 16, 2015
Fire Chief Jones refuses to answer questions about what may have caused the delay getting to passengers yesterday pic.twitter.com/CQ0OCev4MI
— Matt Ackland (@mattackland_dc) January 13, 2015
Mayor Bowser says we will get to the bottom of what happened and fix it. pic.twitter.com/9NeOLNCURJ
— Paul Wagner (@Fox5Wagner) January 13, 2015
Thoughts are w/ all those affected by tragic events on Metro yesterday. I await
full NTSB investigation so this will never happen again.— Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) January 13, 2015
.@SenatorBarb on #wmata incident: "Riders should not live in fear every time they step on a Metro train.”
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) January 16, 2015
Riders of Metro need answers. As Dean of Congressional Delegation, I expect answers at next week’s briefing.
— Barbara Mikulski (@SenatorBarb) January 16, 2015
Join the conversation as a VIP Member