By David, on June 8th, 2010 At around 8.30 this morning on the way to our Rio volunteering job, Marju and I were treated to a bit of excitement in the form of a fire at Cantagalo Metro station in Copacabana.
Thick brown smoke was pouring up the escalator at the main entrance to Cantagalo on Xavier da Silver. Several dopey Brazilians were still using the escalator, which brought back memories of watching the Kings Cross fire on TV when I was young. Rather pensive to enter the metro at all, Marju and I walked around to the other entrance which is conveniently located opposite a fire station. A gaggle of Rio’s finest were hanging around the entrance, so I went over to do my duty as a good citizen and tell them about the fire. One firefighter seemed mildly interested, and took two steps forward to have a look at the smoke rising into the crisp morning air, before returning to his conversation with his colleagues. Standard Carioca attitude. It would appear from this newspaper report that they did eventually do something about it.
Down on the platforms, all was normal, except for a blueish haze drifting around the air vents which was a little disconcerting. The few Cariocas who were there seemed either oblivious or equally as nonchalant as the firefighters above ground.
I do like the Rio metro – especially in the morning. It’s generally nice and quiet – a total contrast to London in the morning, where waiting 4 trains to squeeze into a tiny space is standard. In Rio, getting a seat every morning from Botafogo (one of the busiest interchange stations) is a piece of cake!
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