Dave Sweet

WMAL.com

WASHINGTON — (WMAL) WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld announced Tuesday that all metro lines would be shut down at midnight on March 16 and remain closed until 5 a.m. Thursday morning.

The shut down will come in response to an incident Monday at McPherson Square metro station where a cable fire caused 30 to 60 minute delays on the Blue, Orange and Silver lines. According to Wiedefeld, the fire’s cause is similar to that of the January 2015 L’Enfant Plaza incident when a woman suffocated on the fire’s fumes.

“The preliminary findings show commonalities with the cable fire at L’Enfant Plaza a year ago,” he said. “While the rist to public is very low, I cannot rule out a potential life safety issue here, and this is why we must take this action immediately.”

The Office of Personnel Management says D.C. government offices will remain open despite WMATA’s issues and workers will have the option for unscheduled leave and unscheduled telework.

During the no-service window metro will be inspecting 600 “jumper cables” that Wiedefeld and experts believe are the cause of the fires.

“From where I sit the safety of the public and my employees is paramount,” he said. “To risk that, I just cannot do it.”

MetroBus and MetroAccess service will continue on its normal schedule while rail service is shutdown. For more information read Metro’s press release here.

(Photo: wikipedia.org)