Issues have been raised as to whether fire alarm and fire detection equipment was working properly when apparently, smoke was spotted coming from an escalator at Euston Underground station last month.
Tube union RMT claims that on 6 July, a major disaster was only averted by the actions of a member of staff spotting the smoke and raising the alarm. But Transport for London (TFL) which is responsible for London Underground, says that fire alarm systems were working but that the employee spotted the fire before the fire alarm had time to activate.
The station was evacuated and closed for around an hour while London Fire Brigade crews attended the incident. They discovered smoke coming from a cable inside an escalator panel.
At Oxford Circus station, In another incident last Friday, 15 fire fighters attended a small fire in a wall mounted air conditioning unit. The station was evacuated for a few minutes but damage was limited to a small amount of wiring within the unit.
RMT has concerns regarding the fire alarm and fire detection equipment and has put in writing, a request, that all fire alarm detection equipment at sub-surface stations be inspected within 72 hours.
Meanwhile, RMT members voted yesterday to take industrial action in response to proposed budget cuts to London Underground, and the union says that staff who spotted the fire are among 800 jobs that are threatened.
Referring to the Euston station fire, a London Underground spokesperson said: London Underground has carried out a full investigation and re-tested all fire alarm systems at the station, to ensure they are fully working.
“The fire alarm system would have been automatically activated within the standard time frame of two minutes, as is the case across the London Underground. However on this occasion, a member of staff raised the alarm within this time frame.
“London Fire Brigade gave permission to reopen most of the station within an hour. If they had any serious and ongoing concerns about our fire alarm, they would not have done so.”
The type of fire detection underneath the escalators is a fibre optic linear detection system.
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