WASHINGTON — Investigators have determined the cause of a fire that filled Eastern Market Station up with smoke last week, leaving nine people to be evaluated by medical staff after being evacuated from the station.
During a Metro Board Meeting on Thursday, a fractured shoe was blamed for starting the fire.
In other words, the collector shoe assembly (which draws electric power to the train by contacting the third rail) was dislodged. Officials say it was dragged and grounded, causing a second collector shoe on the same railcar to fail in station limits. This resulted in smoke and fire.
Operations personnel immediately evacuated the train and station.
During Thursday's meeting, actions that could be taken to prevent future fires were discussed.
For more on the incident, click here.
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