WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia has released its own report with a timeline of events in the deadly Metro incident on Monday.
Communication between firefighters and Metro officials was not effective, according to the initial findings.
More information in the report, here.
The timeline tracks when Rescue Squad 1 arrived on the scene at L’Enfant Plaza at 3:31 p.m. after an initial call from a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority supervisor at 3:14 reporting a debris fire on the tracks at the Gallery Place Metro.
A 61-year-old woman died in the incident and 80 people sent to hospital from smoke inhalation.
After it was determined that the smoke was coming from L’Enfant Plaza, responders were dispatched there. In the meantime, at 3:18, responders rescued two individuals who had apparently “self-evacuated” from a Yellow Line train in the ventilation shaft at 9th Street and Maine/Water Street.
An initial squad of responders arriving on the scene at L’Enfant said they turned off power to the third rail in the Green Line tunnel. Reports indicate that after the power was switched off however, responders noted that the Blue and Orange trains were still running. The power shut-off was finally confirmed at 3:44 p.m. according to the report.
A report released by the National Transportation Safety Board on Friday says it took 44 minutes for officials to turn the power off.
On Saturday, the NTSB issued a statement, saying that it’s “very early” in the investigation and “there is still much work that needs to be done” to determine what happened with the train. If needed, the NTSB could issue an urgent safety recommendation if warranted before the final report is completed.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the cause of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority accident is still ongoing. It is very early in the investigation and there is still much work that needs to be done to make final determination of probable cause and any potential recommendations.
As the NTSB continues to gather information which will assist in determining the probable cause of Monday’s accident, investigators are also gathering information on the disruption to the power system, maintenance of the transit system, emergency response and evacuation. The DC Government’s report is only one part of the emergency response, and it will be examined with all the evidence in the context of the investigation.
It is important to note that, if the NTSB at any time finds that a particular safety issue needs to be addressed, the NTSB can and will issue an urgent safety recommendation if warranted before the completion of the final report. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.
According to initial statements from members of another squad, Rescue Squad 1, which arrived at 3:31 p.m., they were told a train was stuck in the Yellow Line tunnel. They attempted to open the emergency door and could not gain access. So they opened a passenger door on the last car of the train and began assisting passenger from the train including “one individual that was unconscious.”
Regarding the communication between firefighters and Metro authorities:
During the incident, FEMS personnel encountered difficulty communicating with each other in the Metro station using traditional radio communication channels. The findings indicate that communications were not effective or sporadic during the response.
When FEMS personnel’s radio reception is diminished, their P25 radios have a direct
communication link that allows the radios to operate as walkie-talkies. This feature allowed FEMS responder units to have contact with each other both within the Metro tunnel and with their command staff at the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station. Additionally, some FEMS personnel had to communicate with the Battalion Fire Chief via cellphone due to diminished reception.
According to the report, that Metro was notified on Jan. 8 that there was “no 800 MHz radio coverage in the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station.”
911 caller from #wmata smoke-filled train at 3:33:06: “It’s going to be a bad situation here very soon”
— Max Smith (@amaxsmith) January 17, 2015
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