`Friday the 13th' blackout hits D.C.

Frustrated officials muttered darkly about the "Friday the 13th" blackout as some government employees were given the rest of the day off.

The power went out at 7:25 a.m., idling arriving office workers outside darkened workplaces. At one point, Pepco reported more than 18,000 customers without power.

Pepco reported power was restored to all customers before 11 a.m.

Pepco spokesman Bob Dobkin said workers traced the problem to some substation equipment in the Chinatown area and planned a statement later. The outage cast Pepco's downtown headquarters into darkness though a generator provided power for some lights and phones.

"We certainly know what our customers are experiencing," he said.

Metro riders experienced long delays after two fires at the Metro Center station, which forced trains to share a single track. The station reopened shortly before 1 p.m. Both fires were blamed on smoldering stud bolts.

Metro also closed the Dupont Circle station because of a lack of power to run the escalators, which at 188 feet were deemed too long for passengers to handle.

Before the station closed, D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Alan Etter said many people complained of breathing difficulties going up the steps. Nine people were treated, including a 50-year-old man taken to a hospital because of problems with his implanted defibrillator.

The morning outage affected the Duport Circle, Shaw-Howard, Farragut North, Farragut West and McPherson Square stations.

Some SmarTrip card holders were able to swipe their cards at the start of their commute, but could not when they arrived in the city because of the outages. Metro says people who experienced the problem can go to the station manager on their way home Friday evening.

During the outage, the Department of Homeland Security told Reuters there appears to be no link to terrorism.

The White House ran on a backup power supply during the problems.

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