Metro reports higher rate of smoky stations
By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
October 23, 2009
Incidents of smoke wafting through the Metro system nearly doubled in the first three months of the fiscal year compared with a year earlier, a problem that transit agency officials blame generally on loose newspapers and leaves that catch fire. In July, August and September, Metro reported 66 "smoke incidents," compared with 36 in the first quarter of fiscal 2009.
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Fires fell by three, from 19 in 2009 to 16 in the first three months of this fiscal year. "Newspapers are a big part of track fires, along with other types of debris and at this time of year, leaves," said spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. Smoke on the tracks can shut down a Metrorail station and cause major delays throughout the system, depending on the severity. The events usually start innocently enough: A reader leaves his newspaper on a train or a platform bench for someone else to pick up. The station, however, acts as a wind tunnel, and often newspapers are lifted up, dropped onto the tracks and pulled into the tunnel, where they may connect with something hot or electrical.
Sometimes the incidents are anything but innocent, said Dave Kubicek, Metro's chief operating officer for rail. Riders have been known to ball up newspapers and throw them onto high-wattage lighting, or toss coins onto the third rail -- both of which can cause smoke.
"It's just a constant battle," Kubicek said. "It's hell."
Metro has installed grates at the end of the platforms in underground stations in an attempt to catch debris before it reaches the tunnel, where the majority of the agency's mechanical systems are located. Riders are encouraged to take their belongings with them before they leave the station, and to recycle their newspapers in the appropriate receptacles.
The smoke numbers were released along with a raft of other safety statistics for the first quarter of the fiscal year that started July 11 -- rider injuries and deaths among them. Metro officials say the numbers are generally better than the first quarter of fiscal 2009. The data does not include the death of Stephanie Richardson, a pedestrian who was struck and killed by a Metrobus in Northeast D.C. on Oct. 5.
