False alarm forces evacuation of Metro bus tunnel

A false alarm during the rush-hour commute this morning forced dozens of Metro passengers to be evacuated from bus tunnel transit stations, authorities said.

By Times staff Reporter

A false alarm during the rush-hour commute this morning forced dozens of Metro passengers to be evacuated from bus tunnel transit stations, authorities said.

"There was an automatic alarm that went off, and we don't know why yet," said Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke

The alarm sounded about 7:10 a.m.at the International District station, Thielke said.

Seattle firefighters responded and found no problems, clearing the call at about 7:30 a.m. Metro personnel then pinpointed the sounding alarm before the tunnel could be reopened, she said.

That left the entire downtown tunnel, including all five downtown stations, shut down until 7:52 a.m. Thielke was unsure how many bus riders may have been evacuated.

Under Metro procedures, when the tunnel shuts down, arriving buses use alternate routes on surface streets, she said.

This is the third time in six months that a false alarm has shutdown the bus tunnel, Thielke said.

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Comments (9)

VOS, private vehicles? Are you serious? If you actually have ever ridden a bus into the tunnel you would of noticed the security checkpoints and... Posted on June 26, 2009 at 12:46 PM by cannibasaurus. Jump to comment

Stephiew: how is it Metro's responsibility to always keep customers informed? Where is Metro getting the personnel to inform each and every... Posted on June 26, 2009 at 12:14 PM by renton mark. Jump to comment

I had automatically assumed (based on snow, rain & wind storms) the 256 would not be running and that nobody would know anything about when it... Posted on June 26, 2009 at 10:45 AM by Kinison. Jump to comment

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