The D.C. Fire Department failed to notify Metro officials about changes to its radio system in a timely fashion, leading to communication mishaps as firefighters tried to evacuate train passengers stuck in a smoke-filled tunnel, Metro officials said Thursday.
The fire department encrypted its radio system on Dec. 15, but Metro officials only learned of the changes a few days before the fatal Jan. 12 incident, said interim Metro General Manager Jack Requa. Metro employees had been troubleshooting the radio communications issues for a few days and were planning to meet with fire officials to work through the problems on the day of the deadly incident.
“They made adjustments by encrypting their radio which made their radios less effective and nonworking in the system,” Mr. Requa said Thursday after a meeting of Metro’s safety and security committee.
The disclosures came Thursday at Metro’s first board meeting since the fatal incident — awkwardly putting board members in the position of discussing emerging details of the investigation alongside the budget matters that included the possibility of fare hikes and service cuts.
After last week’s smoke incident, the agencies were able alter Metro’s radio signal relay equipment so that it could pick up firefighters’ radio signals.
“We made our modifications in our system to adjust to the changes they made so they could function,” said Mr. Requa, adding that radio communications are now functional.
SEE ALSO: Confusion reigned in response to Metro smoke
Former D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, Paul A. Quander Jr., sought to have some fire department radio channels encrypted as a means to protect first responders from people who might seek to do harm them. Fire department spokesman Tim Wilson confirmed that the agency began encrypting some radio channels on Dec. 15. He did not respond to questions asking why the department failed to inform Metro authorities of the radio encryption.
One woman, 61-year-old Carol Glover, died from smoke inhalation and more than 80 people were taken to hospitals for treatment after a train stopped inside a smoke-filled tunnel near the L’Enfant Plaza metro station on Jan 12. Passengers reported being stuck inside the train for approximately 40 minutes — they were directed to remain inside the train by the operator — before first responders reached them.
Last week’s smoke incident, which resulted in the first passenger fatality since the 2009 Red Line crash that killed nine people, is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Metro board officials’ discussions Thursday also included talk of safety steps being taken in the wake of the fatal incident and budget concerns for the next fiscal year.
A bevy of budget options discussed included fare hikes of 10 cents on both trains and buses, reduction of both off-peak and peak rail service, and elimination of late night rail service on Fridays and Saturdays. The Metro board will still have to decide which if any options to include budget proposals that would not be adopted until May.
Metro officials also announced Thursday a plan of 10 “safety actions” being implemented over the few months in reaction to the smoke incident. The steps include repairs on the high-voltage third rails, which power the trains, and new employee protocol that will direct operators to cut off a train’s air intake system in the event of smoke.
SEE ALSO: Rider readies suit in deadly D.C. Metro train incident
Metro’s Deputy General Manager Rob Troup cautioned that the steps were not ordered by the NTSB nor should it be presumed that the steps are indicative of the cause of the incident.
“This doesn’t go to cause, this is simply an early suggestion,” Mr. Troup said.
On Wednesday, members of Congress briefed on the incident by the NTSB said that the situation was exacerbated when the train’s exhaust fans brought more smoke from the tunnel inside the stopped train.
“The death of Carol Glover was an unnecessary tragedy. So many things went wrong. Radios didn’t work. Ventilation fans didn’t get smoke out,” said Rep. Don Beyer, Virginia Democrat. “The ventilation on the trains themselves sucked smoke into the trains.”
NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart said Thursday that it wasn’t known whether the train’s fans actually brought more smoke into the car but that investigators are looking into both how the train’s air intake and the tunnel’s ventilation systems worked during the incident. District officials released a preliminary timeline of events that show it took firefighters at 30 minutes after the first 911 call to reach the passengers stuck in smoke-filled cars. Even once on the scene at L’Enfant Plaza, confusion continued with 13 minutes elapsing between the time firefighters arrived and the time they were advised that power to the train’s high-voltage third rail had been shut off — a safety concern when evacuating passengers.
One man who was aboard the train has filed a lawsuit alleging negligence against the transit authority. An attorney representing the man said Thursday that she is now representing 50 clients in lawsuits stemming from the incident.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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