WASHINGTON — Months after a woman died from聽thick, choking smoke that filled Metro trains at L鈥橢nfant Plaza , area fire departments find their operations are still affected by the deadly incident.
At a briefing before the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments on Wednesday, Prince George鈥檚 County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor told area leaders that departments are being called to Metro incidents more often.
Bashoor says news reports of Metro delays from聽鈥渇ire activity on a track鈥� are now a common occurrence. He聽says that鈥檚 鈥渂ecause of somebody鈥檚 awareness of either smoke, or a spark, or something in the system.鈥�
Along with the public鈥檚 increased awareness — and concerns over safety — there鈥檚 also been a policy change. Instead of sending their own staff to check out reports of smoke on the tracks, Bashoor says Metro officials now call 911 directly.
Bayshoor says the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) hopes to have a Fire/Rescue Liaison stationed at its Rail Operations Control Center (ROCC) by July 1. The officer in that position would make sure there鈥檚 adequate coordination between WMATA and first responders during an incident, as well as聽develop policy recommendations, including corrective actions.
Fire departments also have agreed with Metro to have equipment (i.e. bi-directional amplifiers) that will allow emergency workers to establish communications within 20-30 minutes if Metro鈥檚 radio communications fail inside the tunnels. Bashoor says grant money is being sought to make sure all jurisdictions will be equipped with the tactical聽devices.
