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[CNJRoss]

WMATA news release, 7/20:

 

Metro announces new, fire liaison post at its Rail Control Center
Uniformed fire officer to coordinate emergency response at Metrorail nerve center

 

 

Metro today announced the addition of a full-time fire/rescue liaison in its Rail Operations Control Center. This addition will provide a uniformed fire officer in the “nerve center” of the Metrorail system 40 hours a week to help coordinate emergency communication between Metro and first responders.

 

"The new fire/rescue liaison at the Rail Operations Control Center gives first responders 'eyes and ears' on Metrorail operations and will serve to further strengthen the coordination between our operations staff and emergency personnel," said Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik. "I want to thank MWCOG Fire Chiefs Chair Marc Bashoor for his leadership and look forward to continuing our productive relationship."

 

The newly created position is the result of ongoing discussions between Metro and the region’s fire chiefs.  In addition to coordinating emergency response, the fire official will also develop policy recommendations and provide supplemental emergency training for rail controllers.

 

Launched on July 1, 2015, the position is part of an agreement with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Fire Chiefs Committee, chaired by Prince George’s County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor. 

“The fire/rescue liaison position in the ROCC has already provided crucial support to WMATA and Fire Department incident commanders,” said Bashoor.  “In the first couple of days, the liaison provided support for more than two dozen fire and EMS related incidents affecting multiple jurisdictions 911 centers and emergency response operations.”

 

The COG Fire Chiefs and Metro are committed to ensuring WMATA and Fire/EMS personnel across the National Capital Region continue forming a closer training and operational relationship.

 

In response to the January 12 incident that occurred in a tunnel near L’Enfant Plaza Station earlier this year, Metro has implemented a number of additional safety measures to improve emergency response, including increased training, emergency drills and enhanced radio testing protocols that provide a real time outage map for controllers and first responders.

 

View video of MTPD Chief Ronald Pavlik and MWCOG Fire Chiefs Committee Chairman Marc Bashoor inside the ROCC discussing the new fire/rescue liaison position:

 

Video:  Metro Rail Operations Control Center Fire Liaison  (2:06)

 

News release issued at 1:48 pm, July 20, 2015.

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, posted 7/20:

 

Firefighter liaison assigned to Metro to improve responses to emergencies

A Fairfax County fire captain has been assigned to work 40 hours a week in Metro’s central train-control facility to help the transit agency and firefighters avoid communications confusion during emergencies, a problem that hampered the response to the Jan. 12 fatal smoke incident in a subway tunnel.

 

Officials said Monday that Capt. Robert Konczal, who is a specialist in passenger-rail safety, began working June 29 as a liaison in Metro’s Rail Operations Control Center, known as the ROCC, where train controllers monitor the subway in real time.

 

Konczal is not at the ROCC, which is in Landover, during all hours of operation.

 

“We would like to see a 24/7 posture,” Prince George’s County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor said at a Monday news conference. But until more money and trained fire personnel become available, the liaison job will not be an around-the-clock position, said Bashoor, who is chairman of the fire chiefs committee of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

WTOP radio, 12/28:
 

Key fire position in WMATA control center could run out of funding

 

WASHINGTON — A fire department position within Metro, created after the deadly smoke incident near L’Enfant Plaza in January, could end this spring if the region does not find new funding for it.

 

Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik says the two firefighters who have been working 40 hours a week, one from Fairfax County and one from Prince George’s County, only have the funding from Metro to continue work at the Rail Operations Control Center for a few more months.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

WTOP radio, 4/13/16:
 

Fire position in Metro control center to continue — for now

 

WASHINGTON — The region’s fire departments will continue to staff a position in Metro’s troubled rail control center on a part-time basis for several more months.

 

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments on Wednesday was expected to approve D.C. grant money to keep the position filled through September.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

WMATA news release, 5/2:

 

Metro Rail Operations Control Center to be staffed by uniformed fire department liaison at all hours
New around-the-clock coverage begins in June

 

VIDEO: Metrorail Operations Control Center fire liaison

 

 

Metro General Manager/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld today joined Chief Marc Bashoor, Chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Fire Chiefs Committee, to announce a significant expansion of fire service coverage at Metro's Rail Operations Control Center.

 

Beginning this June, a uniformed fire officer will be stationed at the “nerve center” of the Metrorail system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help coordinate emergency communication between Metro and first responders.

 

Currently, fire liaisons are on duty at the ROCC in two shifts -- approximately 80 hours per week -- working Monday through Friday and during special events. The expanded hours are made possible as a result of a new Memorandum of Understanding between Metro and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG).

 

“In less than a year since we began this initiative, we have seen that embedding a fire service liaison in the Metro Rail Operations Control Center has dramatically improved the level of coordination between Metro and the region's emergency responders," said Prince George’s County Fire Chief and Chair of the MWCOG Fire Chiefs Committee Marc Bashoor. "But we know that emergencies can happen at any hour, and that's why I could not be more pleased that we have reached an agreement to expand the position around the clock for the safety of Metro passengers and employees." 

 

"Extending the hours of the fire/rescue liaison position at the Rail Operations Control Center ensures that first responders have 'eyes and ears' on Metrorail operations throughout the entire service day," said Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik.  "I want to thank COG Fire Chiefs Chair Marc Bashoor for his leadership and commitment to strengthening the coordination between our operations staff and emergency personnel."

 

In addition to coordinating emergency response, the fire liaisons will continue to develop policy recommendations and provide supplemental emergency training for rail controllers.

 

Among a number of additional safety measures implemented to improve emergency response, the fire/rescue liaison position was launched last July to improve coordination between ROCC and on-scene personnel during emergencies. The region’s fire chiefs and Metro are committed to ensuring rail operations staff and Fire/EMS personnel across the National Capital Region continue to have a close training and working relationship. 

 

In response to the smoke incident that occurred in January 2015 outside L’Enfant Plaza Station, Metro increased training, emergency drills and enhanced radio testing protocols that provide a real time outage map for controllers and first responders.

 

Video: MTPD Chief Ronald Pavlik and COG Fire Chiefs Committee Chairman Marc Bashoor inside the ROCC discussing the new fire/rescue liaison position in July 2015.

 

Related: Metro announces new, fire liaison post at its Rail Control Center 

 

News release issued at 2:33 pm, May 2, 2016.