The best bus ever

The best bus ever
Jason Sievers' awesome Art in Transit bus

Thursday, March 22, 2007

City bus destroyed in fire

This probably won't help Valley Ride's efforts to entice new riders. From the Idaho Statesman:

Traffic was partially blocked in Downtown Boise this morning while crews worked to put out a fire on a city bus this morning.

Shortly after 8 a.m., Ada County dispatchers received a report that the engine compartment of a city bus had caught fire near 9th and Main streets.

No injuries have been reported in the incident, but the natural-gas powered bus was a total loss.

The fire began at about 8:15 a.m., when the bus driver was on a break, Boise Fire Department Capt. Tom Pawek said.

Another bus driver spotted the flames and called emergency dispatchers, but by the time police arrived less than a minute later, the rear of the bus was totally engulfed.

Pawek said a venting system built into the engine prevented a large natural gas explosion. Still, flames shot nearly three stories into the air.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Witnesses heard a whooshing and popping sound as the flames began, but Pawek said that could have been the safety venting system.

Similar natural gas bus fires are not uncommon in Boise, said Deputy Fire Chief Dave Hanneman.

“This is the fourth or fifth bus that I’ve seen catch fire in the past four or five years,” Hanneman said. “The natural gas fuels the fire, and that’s that.”

Read more here. Four or five bus fires in four or five years? That's too many.

3 comments:

Bikeboy said...

I see some AWESOME promotional/marketing opportunities here!
"Ride on a fire-resistant bus - regular fare. Ride on a fire-prone bus FOR FREE!!"

Julie - you say you have an aversion to "transportation bicycling" because you perceive it as dangerous. But my bike has NEVER caught on fire!!!
(-;

Anonymous said...

uhhh...two buses in six months? And how many the previous ten years? Oh, none...wish BFD had that whole fact-checking/public responsibility thing figured out.

Sorry, the facts matter on this one.

Texaco said...

Actually I heard a bus driver that day say that it was the 2nd one that month. Who has better data than the drivers?