Smoke incident near L'Enfant Plaza 1/12/201

Metro just tweeted that due to follow-up NTSB investigation today, Yellow Line trails are single-tracking between L'Enfant and Pentagon City. https://twitter.com/Metrorailinfo/statu ... 9559182336. The trains will be on the Greenbelt platform at L'Enfant, and at the upper level platform at Pentagon.

A discussion of the timeline is in the Washington Post today. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tra ... _local_pop" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Also a good map.. If it is to scale, the back of the train was only ~500 feet from the station. It also sounds like the train operator did make some attempts to back up but was unsuccessful, and also was told not to - not sure of the order.
The first rescue units arrived at 3:31, and 3:44 they received confirmation power was off, and at 3:48 already someone in the last car (nearest the station) texted that the rescuers had arrived. So immediately after 3:44 they were already on the move in the tunnel.
Having been a first responder with airpacks, etc, I can imagine it took some time, easily 5 minutes or more, for them to get all the gear down to the platform, set up a staging area (or perhaps 2 - one on the street and one on the platform) figure out which way to go in the tunnel, possibly turn off power, confirm power was out, figure out what was going on and make a plan, including backups, and so forth, before they would go into the tunnels. Not to mention dealing with the 100s' people coming out the station or already ill from smoke on the street and all the chaos. THey wouldn't just run down the stairs and charge into the tunnels like the calvary. I'm not trying to make excuses, but if I read the timeline correctly, the delay from 3:31 when the truck arrived to 3:44 to confirm power was off may have only cost a few (<5?) minutes, certainly not 10. 17 minutes from the first unit arriving, perhaps not even yet knowing of people stuck on a train yet (first call from a passenger on the train was 3:33), until rescuers reaching a train 500 feet into a tunnel (in the dark and smoke), along with everything else going on seems a heck of a job.
I don't know Washington very well, but the time from the first report of heavy smoke at L'Enfant plaza (3:22) and first unit arriving at 3:31 might get some attention.
JS
Do we know how many people were on the train and had to be evacuated (sorry if I misssed it)?

pumpers wrote:A discussion of the timeline is in the Washington Post today. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tra ... _local_pop" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Also a good map.. If it is to scale, the back of the train was only ~500 feet from the station. It also sounds like the train operator did make some attempts to back up but was unsuccessful, and also was told not to - not sure of the order.
The first rescue units arrived at 3:31, and 3:44 they received confirmation power was off, and at 3:48 already someone in the last car (nearest the station) texted that the rescuers had arrived. So immediately after 3:44 they were already on the move in the tunnel.
Having been a first responder with airpacks, etc, I can imagine it took some time, easily 5 minutes or more, for them to get all the gear down to the platform, set up a staging area (or perhaps 2 - one on the street and one on the platform) figure out which way to go in the tunnel, possibly turn off power, confirm power was out, figure out what was going on and make a plan, including backups, and so forth, before they would go into the tunnels. Not to mention dealing with the 100s' people coming out the station or already ill from smoke on the street and all the chaos. THey wouldn't just run down the stairs and charge into the tunnels like the calvary. I'm not trying to make excuses, but if I read the timeline correctly, the delay from 3:31 when the truck arrived to 3:44 to confirm power was off may have only cost a few (<5?) minutes, certainly not 10. 17 minutes from the first unit arriving, perhaps not even yet knowing of people stuck on a train yet (first call from a passenger on the train was 3:33), until rescuers reaching a train 500 feet into a tunnel (in the dark and smoke), along with everything else going on seems a heck of a job.
I don't know Washington very well, but the time from the first report of heavy smoke at L'Enfant plaza (3:22) and first unit arriving at 3:31 might get some attention.
JS
Do we know how many people were on the train and had to be evacuated (sorry if I misssed it)?

We don't know how many people, but at 3PM I think it would be safe to say maybe 15 people per car, on average. So, ~15 people per car x 6 car train = ~90 people to be evacuated.

DC is releasing its initial report assessing its response to the incident within the next 48 hours. http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local ... 81381.html

Metro is dealing with a arcing insulator at Ballston right now, which is causing single tracking because 1 side of the third rail has been de-energized. No smoke or fires. http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local ... 21221.html

JDC wrote:Metro is dealing with a arcing insulator at Ballston right now, which is causing single tracking because 1 side of the third rail has been de-energized. No smoke or fires. http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local ... 21221.html

The 'light haze' per Metro seems a bit thicker in the photo is in this follow-up Wp piece: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr- ... 2/?hpid=z3

Story from a man who, along with another man, "self-evacuated" the train themselves and walked in the tunnel until reaching a staircase, which took them to a street-level grate that they opened to reach the outside. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tra ... ml?hpid=z5

Probably what will get the most attention is Metro and Fire Department coordination. The first call of heavy smoke at Enfant was 3:22, and it took until 3:46 to call for a 2nd alarm. JS

JDC wrote:Metro is dealing with a arcing insulator at Ballston right now, which is causing single tracking because 1 side of the third rail has been de-energized. No smoke or fires. http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local ... 21221.html

This turned out to be debris in contact with the third rail, not an arcing insulator.

NTSB Preliminary Report :

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Acci ... inary.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Includes pictures of the arc damaged area of the tunnel ...

Of note ... per the NTSB

3:06 PM - a breaker at one end of the affected 3rd rail section opened
3:15 PM - the train stopped in the tunnel
3:16 PM - ventilation fans activated to attempt to clear the smoke

the breaker at the other end of the 3rd rail remained closed until power was shut down at 3:50PM


So ... a couple questions there ...

1) is it common for a 3rd rail section to have a single breaker trip and nobody notices? is that normal?
2) if 1) is not normal, why didn't the 2nd breaker trip?

The approx 30+ minutes (35 by this timeline) prior to power shutdown is confirmed in this report; this means first firefighters didn't enter the track area until that point.

litz wrote:
1) is it common for a 3rd rail section to have a single breaker trip and nobody notices? is that normal?
2) if 1) is not normal, why didn't the 2nd breaker trip?
.

I take this to mean that there were two separate sections of electrified 3rd rail that were involved. One where the fire was, and the second one further back - possibly extending back into L'Enfant Plaza station. The first one tripped before the train even got there - when the train started to go into the new block, it obviously lost power. What we don't know is where all 6 of the railcars were in relation to the 2nd block when the train came to a stop - were there one or more of the railcars still over the powered 3rd rail? The passenger accounts were that the operator tried to move the cars back (there were a few lurching movements of the train) - suggesting that one or more of the railcars might have still had power - but not enough to move the train.

There was no fault in the 2nd section, and hence the breakers there didn't trip. But those sections needed to be manually de-energized before the firefighters could safely enter the tunnel.

As to what notifications one might get when a breaker trips, I can't answer that..

JDC wrote:DC is releasing its initial report assessing its response to the incident within the next 48 hours. http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local ... 81381.html

This is now released:

http://mayor.dc.gov/sites/default/files ... 2-2015.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One of the more troubling parts about this event concerns radio communication in the tunnel:

"Communications Inside the Metro Tunnel

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. The radio communications equipment in Metro stations and tunnels is within the jurisdiction of WMATA. FEMS and OUC conduct periodic tests to ensure sufficient operability reception in the Metro tunnels. Based on a preliminary review, it appears that FEMS notified WMATA on January 8, 2015, that there was no 800 MHz radio coverage anywhere in the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station."

There are email chains noting communication with WMATA or a WMATA contractor that radios signal was an issue in the area. There are call transcripts from passengers on the smoke train where cell signal seems to be an issue as well. Fire crews were using their own cell phones in the station - which in the email chain between WMATA and DC Fire notes had no signal issues.

Between the preliminary NTSB report, call timelines, and now this, we have a fairly good overview of events. This newest report confirms that some passengers self-evacuated and exited at a vent shaft - not back to L'Enfant.

There's also this:
http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/27871715/m ... -abandoned" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A story seemingly confirming through their sources that the train on the platform at L'Enfant at the time of the incident had been evacuated - operator and all. The train had stopped short of pulling to the front of the station. This appears to be why the operator on the smoke train was pleading with MTPD to move the train, and why that train did not move even though it appears power to the 3rd rail in the station was still active at least at the start of the incident.

Obviously my post of 01 13 2015 was incorrect.

Based on what has been reported the train stopped clear of the F & L junction interlocking. All of the pictures and video clips showed only emergency light on in the smoke filled train indicating no power to the third rail. The earliest date stamp on those pictures was 3:22 PM. Central Control confirms third rail power off at 3:44.

The arcing occurred adjacent to 9th and Maine Avenue / Water Street emergency exit /fan shaft. See pictures in NTSB Preliminary Report.

My memory of the exact locations of the traction power substations is a little fuzzy. However I do know for a fact there are circuit breakers on the third rail feeds on all routes on both sides of F & L junction interlocking and at the north end of the Potomac River bridge.

The train abandoned at the platform in the L'Enfant Plaza station was not stopped at the end of the platform. So in theory the train in the tunnel could have reversed direction and gotten all or part of one car on the L'Enfant Plaza station platform.

In my opinion the response by DC fire and EMS was not as quick as it could have been. What I don't understand is why all the concern about not know if third third rail on or off. Seems to me evacuation operations can be easily executed safely regardless of the presents of power in the third rail.

I'm just getting to login again, I've been looking over all the info released and I've prepared a consolidated rough draft of the timeline of events
What really needs to be added are the OCC tapes, and the third rail question (A third rail diagram of F03 and the L2 track from F&L to the portal would be great)

thanks for the summary. With respect to the 3rd rail, what I am looking for is 2 things:
a. when the power went out in the location of the train . I think the train stopped because the operator saw dense smoke, not because of power. In one report it is also stated he tried to back up once or twice and the train jerked a little (maybe because brakes were on after the self-evacuation?) but did not move. Presumably the train lost power when the lights went out - probably when that was could be confirmed from the various passenger videos eventually. Maybe it was after the self-evacuators open the emergency exits, if the operator tried to move the train after they left (and failed because of the emergency brakes)?

b. When did the the power go out in the area of the arcing? Presumably that was the end of the generation of the smoke.

Reading through the reports - there were about 200 people on the train . And that by ~3:40 the first rescuers were already at the last car of the train. Only 9 minutes after the first unit arrived on the scene. Perhaps that 3:48 text from someone on the train saying rescuers arrived was from one of the forward cars.

JS