City inspectors cited Metro officials for fire-code violations Friday at a major Northwest bus garage after the facility’s antiquated fire alarm system was found to be inoperable, transit officials said.
Inspectors issued the citation after finding that the alarm system at the 57,000-square-foot Western Bus Garage, at 5230 Wisconsin Ave. NW, was not in operation during an inspection Friday morning. The building regularly houses more than 130 buses and includes space for maintenance, cleaning and storage, officials said.
The citation is the second the transit agency has received for faulty alarm systems in the past year. Last fall, fire marshals issued a similar citation for Metro’s headquarters at the Jackson Graham Building, at 600 Fifth St. NW. The D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs gave Metro 30 days to make emergency repairs to the system and forced them to initiate a strict around-the-clock “emergency fire watch” by employees.
Metro spent $1 million on repairs and upgrades to meet city fire codes, according to budget documents.
Details of the citation were not made available as of press time, but Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said the transit agency is “well aware” of the problem.
Taubenkibel said officials shut down the antiquated system in early August to make major renovations. Taubenkibel said most of the system is decades old and replacement parts are nearly impossible to find.
Metro is searching across the country to find the parts needed to repair the system and, in some cases, is remanufacturing the parts themselves, Taubenkibel said. Metro officials informed the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services of their plans, Taubenkibel said. D.C. fire officials said they were unaware of the details of the citation. Several DCRA officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Taubenkibel said it was unclear why a citation was issued and the Metro officials with direct knowledge of the incident were not available.
