WASHINGTON — The Glenmont Metro station is back up and running Tuesday after reports of a possible electrical fire caused a station evacuation Monday night.
The incident began about 8 p.m. Monday; the all-clear was sounded about two hours later.
“When units arrived on the scene here they did encounter some smoke in the platform area [and] in the station,” Montgomery County Fire Department spokesman Pete Piringer told NBC Washington. “One of the trains that had been on the platform was moved … [and] evacuated safely.”
Firefighters activating a ventilating fan system also discovered smoke in the tunnel, Piringer said.
There’s no official word on what caused Monday’s smoke event at the Glenmont Station but a tweet from Piringer Monday night indicated the report of an electrical fire possibly involved “switching gear.”
In the past, Metro electrical fires have been associated with dirty or melting cable insulation.
After a deadly smoke incident outside the L’Enfant Plaza station last January, Metro implemented an aggressive schedule of inspecting and replacing third rail insulator cables.
The L’Enfant Plaza investigation revealed Metro workers had trouble communicating with responding firefighters. Subsequently, a firefighter has been staffed in the Metro Rail Operations Control Center to help coordinate jurisdictional response.
Officials say the move has improved response and safety, but there’s only enough money allocated for the position until about the spring of 2016. Coincidentally, that’s when the National Transportation Safety Board expects to release its final report on the L’Enfant Plaza death.
WTOP’s Max Smith and Ginger Whitaker contributed to this report.
U/D – MCFRS personnel & units are picking up, smoke in tunnel/Station has been cleared, Metro Maint crews on scene pic.twitter.com/fqBfLplQqo
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) December 29, 2015
