WASHINGTON — Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., says she was very disturbed by the evacuation response during a smoke incident in the tunnel at Le’Enfant Plaza last week.
Metro needs to “be able to get people out quickly,” she says, but “that did not happen.”
Over the weekend, the D.C. fire department released a report on its response to last week’s Metro smoke incident, in which one person died and dozens were sent to local hospitals.
Norton says she wasn’t happy with the report.
“This looks like what would be a comedy of errors if it weren’t so tragic.”
First responders reported radio system dropouts, uncertainty about whether energized third rails were shut off, and emergency doors on trains that couldn’t be opened.
Norton says communication is even more important when a transit system is so old. She says she’ll have many questions during an NTSB briefing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.
