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glatt · 01-13-2015, 07:35 AM

Another death on the DC Metro system yesterday.

An electrical arc on the tracks caused a tremendous amount of smoke in a station and surrounding tunnels, and the power loss disabled a train in a nearby tunnel.

Metro's slow response had the train sitting there in a cloud of heavy smoke for about an hour. Poor communication from the train driver to the passengers allowed fear and panic to set in among the passengers, and the smoke and panic caused one woman to have a heart attack and die. Many others were treated for smoke inhalation. Two more are still in serious condition in the hospital.

Pisses me off. One of Metro's biggest weaknesses is an ability to respond quickly to an incident and get information to the passengers. Normally, it's just irritating, but this time a woman died.

I carry a smoke hood to aid in an evacuation. A couple actually. I've discussed it before here. But my smoke hoods are not designed for sitting on a fucking train for an hour in heavy smoke. They are evacuation hoods.

01-13-2015, 07:35 AM	#141
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Another death on the DC Metro system yesterday. An electrical arc on the tracks caused a tremendous amount of smoke in a station and surrounding tunnels, and the power loss disabled a train in a nearby tunnel. Metro's slow response had the train sitting there in a cloud of heavy smoke for about an hour. Poor communication from the train driver to the passengers allowed fear and panic to set in among the passengers, and the smoke and panic caused one woman to have a heart attack and die. Many others were treated for smoke inhalation. Two more are still in serious condition in the hospital. Pisses me off. One of Metro's biggest weaknesses is an ability to respond quickly to an incident and get information to the passengers. Normally, it's just irritating, but this time a woman died. I carry a smoke hood to aid in an evacuation. A couple actually. I've discussed it before here. But my smoke hoods are not designed for sitting on a fucking train for an hour in heavy smoke. They are evacuation hoods.