WASHINGTON — It was five years ago this week that a 61-year-old grandmother died after her Metro train filled with smoke. Now, a whistleblower fears the same thing could happen again, despite Metro’s commitment to change.
"They learned some lessons, but apparently they didn’t learn all the lessons completely," Dave Statter, a public safety advocate and former WUSA9 reporter, said.
He said a recent string of incidents is too similar to Metro’s last death of a rider.
Carol Glover was the only person to die the evening of Jan. 12, 2015. A civil lawsuit said that Glover struggled to breathe, along with hundreds more on a Yellow Line train near L’Enfant Plaza. Federal investigators found Metro Operations Control delayed calling firefighters for 15 minutes.
Statter first became attune to new issues after a trio of smoke issues on the Red Line last month. He said Metro once again struggled to dispatch help.
"My head was spinning," Statter said.
He found nine delayed responses in the last three months alone, which he chronicled them on his website. Metro now says it is fully investigating each incident.
"We are always reviewing any major issue that occurs to ensure that we have learned everything we can learn out of that incident," Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said.
The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission also reviewed the latest emergencies. It found a confused and chaotic scene in the Rail Operations Control Center. Metro acknowledged in its own review that it sent a train toward smoking tracks.
Statter retired from reporting 10 years ago. But he said he could not stay silent so Carol Glover’s legacy will make Metro safer.
"Where they have let us down is time and location, sending people toward danger and delaying the alarm, Statter said. "That has to be worked on."