(Updated at 9:27 a.m.) Commuters on Metro’s Orange and Silver lines faced minor delays this morning after smoke filled the tunnels of the Ballston station.
A Metro spokeswoman told ARLnow that a train suffered a brake malfunction and offloaded passengers at the station.
“The fans will be turned on and the smoke will dissipate,” said the spokesman. He added he not aware of any health concerns for those who breathed in the smoke.
As of 9 a.m. the gray smoke was still visible and smelled of burning rubber, but crowds has dissipated and first responders had left the scene.
Dozens of emergency vehicles, firefighters going down the escalator, smell of burning rubber, and smoke in the tunnels. Just another day at metro! pic.twitter.com/9t5lj7oEhO
— Baris Tezgel (@BarisTezgel1) July 2, 2019
First responders were dispatched to the scene around 8:45 a.m. this morning to reports of smoke filling the tunnel.
Metro-tracking bot Metro Hero Alerts reported that a train went out of service at the Ballston station at 8:43 a.m. this morning and that riders disembarked the train at the station.
https://twitter.com/metroheroalerts/status/1146036674255867905?s=20
Outside, one commuter ditched Metro and was waiting on an Uber to get to work.
“I could smell it going down,” Ashley McMahon said of the smoke as she walked down the escalator to the tunnel earlier that morning. “There was a lot of people.”
@WTOPtraffic @WTOP @arlingtonalert @wmata Train on fire at Ballston station pic.twitter.com/VTyjga6m7d
— Maggie Urbanik (@maggieurbanik) July 2, 2019
Photo courtesy of Ashley McMahon