The Dupont Circle Metro station was briefly evacuated and closed Friday afternoon after riders reported seeing smoke.

A train with a “brake problem” was taken out of service after its arrival at Dupont Circle at 12:38 p.m., according to Metro spokesman Dan Stessel. D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services was dispatched at around 12:45 p.m., says spokesman Tim Wilson, “to a Metro station box alarm for smoke in the station.”

“There was no fire, but there was smoke, and we subsequently evacuated the station and made certain that the smoke was dissipated before we let people back in [around 1:30 p.m.],” Wilson says.

Riders in the station at the time of evacuation posted photos to Twitter.

As of 1:25 p.m., all Red Line trains were moving in both directions, and all stations, including Dupont, were open, according to Stessel. A Metro Twitter account warned Red Line riders to “expect residual delays in both directions” due to the incident.

Today’s evacuation comes nearly a month after smoke filled a tunnel near the L’Enfant Plaza station, leaving one woman dead and sending 84 people to the hospital. The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into that incident, which preliminary reports blame on electrical arcing, and hearings are scheduled for June 23 and 24.

Update, 2:28 p.m.: Mayor Muriel Bowser says her administration “closely monitored” today’s incident.

Update, 3:30 p.m.: Video posted to YouTube by Michael Cowden appears to show the train involved in today’s incident. Smoke and what appears to be flames are seen underneath the train. City Paper has reached out to Cowden and to Metro for comment.

Update, 4:25 p.m.: Metro spokesman Dan Stessel says an investigation into the incident is underway. “It appears that the brake pads on one car did not fully release, causing friction and generating smoke,” he says. “That is what prompted us to offload the train and take it out of service. There are 32 brake pads on an 8-car train, and this issue appears to be isolated to one car.” Stessel says passengers were taken off the train prior to when Cowden’s video was apparently filmed. “Any damage appears isolated to the brake pads; there is no reported damage to the passenger cabin.”

Photo courtesy Justin Charles