WASHINGTON – This week’s fatal smoke event on Metro’s Yellow Line raised numbers of questions from passengers about how best to respond during an emergency.
Some 200 people had to be evacuated from a Yellow Line train that was disabled after an electrical problem filled the tunnel near L’Enfant Plaza with smoke. In videos taken by passengers, the train’s conductor can be heard telling riders to remain on the train and to keep the doors shut. He tells them that he can’t put the train in reverse to return to the platform if they open the doors.
But the train never made it back to the platform and passengers waited 20 to 45 minutes before firefighters came to help them leave the tunnel. National Transportation Safety Board officials have said that some passengers self-evacuated to escape the dense, choking smoke.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority offers customers many how-to guides on emergency preparedness. Click for the guide in multiple languages.
Some tips include:
Evacuating a train – in most cases wait for a metro employee’s assistance. But Metro says if a situation is life-threatening:
- Lift the emergency door release, pull down the red handle, and slide open the left door.
- Avoid the high voltage rail that’s covered with a white board.
- Walk on the raised safety walk along the wall.
Using emergency intercoms:
- Hold down the red button while talking.
- Release the red button to hear the response.
If you fall onto Metro rail train tracks:
- Don’t try to climb back onto the platform – call for help.
- If a train comes roll under the platform edge – don’t touch the train or rails.
On escalators – If someone’s clothes or shoes get caught:
- Emergency stop buttons are at the bottom and top of the steps near the handrail close to the floor.
In case of fire:
- All rail cars have a fire extinguisher in the operator’s cab.
- Some rail cars have a second extinguisher under the last seat on the left.
- If a Metro bus driver is unable to extinguish a fire – extinguishers are located behind or under the driver’s seat or inside the front door under the passenger side seat.
Unattended packages Metro considers suspicious may include:
- Something in an out of the way place.
- Someone leaving something then departing quickly.
- Something that’s leaking or has unusual wires or batteries.
Metro wants riders to report anything that seems unusual. “If you see something say something” means telling a station manager, bus driver, Metro employee or Metro Transit Police who can be contacted at 202-962-2121.
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