Sound Transit bus bursts into flames on I-5 express lanes
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SEATTLE - A Sound Transit burst into flames on the southbound Interstate 5 express lanes in Seattle during Friday morning's commute, creating a miles-long backup that lasted for hours.
Billowing flames and smoke poured from the diesel-powered articulated bus, near the 85th Street exit, just after it broke out at about 7 a.m.
Sound Transit later said Friday's frigid temperatures and a frozen brake line could be to blame for the blaze.
Officials said 24 passengers were aboard the bus when the fire broke out, including one passenger in a wheelchair.
Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore says the driver realized something was wrong underneath the bus and pulled over onto the shoulder. He checked the exterior of the bus, then called for help after spotting flames, opened both bus doors and got everyone off, including the passenger in the wheelchair.
"It was scary because it takes some time to unhook those straps, but later I realized she was already free, so people carried her out ... everybody's running away," said the driver, who asked not to be identified.
The driver said he pulled over after several motorists passing by him pointed at the bus to let him know something was wrong. He checked the bus and spotted a small fire near the back.
"At first I thought it was small, and it can be handled," he said. "But then I called in, and it was already spreading up, so I opened both doors and told people, 'We have to run.'"
The driver and some passengers told KOMO News that they heard a pop or explosion.
"I said, 'We have to - we have to run,' because after the first explosion there was fire, so I told them, 'We must run,'" recounted the driver.
"Everyone starts looking around at each other, like, 'Whats happening?'" said passenger Emalasa Franulovich. "Then we hear a second 'pop,' and everyone starts panicking and yelling, 'Get off the bus.'"
"So we're walking down the express lanes watching the bus on fire. ... I'm happy that I'm alive - it wasn't very fun," she said.
The driver said that the evacuation of the bus went very smoothly once it started.
"They were actually very organized, so I told them ... 'Get against the barrier,' and they did," he says.
Some passengers called the bus driver a "hero" for his calm but effective actions in getting the bus evacuated safely.
Sound transit spokeswoman Kimberly Reason says the cause of the fire is under investigation but it could have been caused by frozen brakes that overheated.
The blaze caused major disruptions during the morning rush hour. Aerial footage showed a huge backup extending for miles to the north.
All express lanes were closed initially, as well as two northbound lanes as firefighters battle the flames. The north 85th Street overpass also was closed so that fire trucks can reach the bus from above.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze by about 7:30 a.m., but their efforts were hampered at one point by a shortage of water.
By 7:50 a.m., one lane of the express lanes was reopened and a second was opened at about 9:30 a.m., but traffic was delayed through most of the morning.
Another bus was sent to pick up passengers evacuated from the burning vehicle.
Billowing flames and smoke poured from the diesel-powered articulated bus, near the 85th Street exit, just after it broke out at about 7 a.m.
Sound Transit later said Friday's frigid temperatures and a frozen brake line could be to blame for the blaze.
Officials said 24 passengers were aboard the bus when the fire broke out, including one passenger in a wheelchair.
Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore says the driver realized something was wrong underneath the bus and pulled over onto the shoulder. He checked the exterior of the bus, then called for help after spotting flames, opened both bus doors and got everyone off, including the passenger in the wheelchair.
"It was scary because it takes some time to unhook those straps, but later I realized she was already free, so people carried her out ... everybody's running away," said the driver, who asked not to be identified.
The driver said he pulled over after several motorists passing by him pointed at the bus to let him know something was wrong. He checked the bus and spotted a small fire near the back.
"At first I thought it was small, and it can be handled," he said. "But then I called in, and it was already spreading up, so I opened both doors and told people, 'We have to run.'"
The driver and some passengers told KOMO News that they heard a pop or explosion.
"I said, 'We have to - we have to run,' because after the first explosion there was fire, so I told them, 'We must run,'" recounted the driver.
"Everyone starts looking around at each other, like, 'Whats happening?'" said passenger Emalasa Franulovich. "Then we hear a second 'pop,' and everyone starts panicking and yelling, 'Get off the bus.'"
"So we're walking down the express lanes watching the bus on fire. ... I'm happy that I'm alive - it wasn't very fun," she said.
The driver said that the evacuation of the bus went very smoothly once it started.
"They were actually very organized, so I told them ... 'Get against the barrier,' and they did," he says.
Some passengers called the bus driver a "hero" for his calm but effective actions in getting the bus evacuated safely.
Sound transit spokeswoman Kimberly Reason says the cause of the fire is under investigation but it could have been caused by frozen brakes that overheated.
The blaze caused major disruptions during the morning rush hour. Aerial footage showed a huge backup extending for miles to the north.
All express lanes were closed initially, as well as two northbound lanes as firefighters battle the flames. The north 85th Street overpass also was closed so that fire trucks can reach the bus from above.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze by about 7:30 a.m., but their efforts were hampered at one point by a shortage of water.
By 7:50 a.m., one lane of the express lanes was reopened and a second was opened at about 9:30 a.m., but traffic was delayed through most of the morning.
Another bus was sent to pick up passengers evacuated from the burning vehicle.
Good job by the driver in getting people off the bus and safely to the side of the road.Â
The driver did a great job. We need more news about these people rather than the drunkards who wreck!
XD "Emalasa Franulovich?"Â Gosh, poor Melissa. With people being unable to pronounce (yet correctly spell)Â her last name, you'd think her frist name would be spelled right. Glad she's okay. :)
*first
First 787's and now the buses!?
To the Driver of Sound Transit Route 510: Â On the odd chance you find your way here, to this page, Bravo, Sir, Bravo.
I have a hard time believing that this fire is the result of a frozen brakes. If the brake was frozen, the driver would have noticed it before he got out of the lot. I think the cause was a WAG on the part of the spokesperson.
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I'll take a somewhat more educated guess and say that the fire was caused by something related to all of the emissions crap they're putting on these things nowadays.
 @James127 The wheel would be dragging instead of turning and fire results due to fiction
of the wheel locked up on the bare pavement.
If that was the case, the bus never would have made it that far.
 @James127 This.  That bus had been on the road for at least 30 miles that morning, more if it wasn't his first trip.
In your scenario, if the air pressure was low enough to cause a spring brake to drag that badly, the low pressure alarm would have been going off, and/or the other brakes would have been locking up as well. ANY driver would have noticed that.
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Trust me, I know how air brake systems work.
Full time diesel tech.
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It's one thing to drag brakes on an empty or semi-empty trailer. Quite another to do the same thing on a powered drive axle. Any good driver should have felt this I still don't buy it.
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Think about it - there were several passengers on the bus. If one wheel was locked up from the time he left the bus barn, certainly when the bus stopped to pick up passengers, SOMEONE would have noticed the smoke!
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If you scroll down, another poster said he drove by the scene and saw the engine bay on fire, and nothing about the tires. I will stick with my earlier educated guess.
 @James127 James, I've seen drivers drag a frozen wheel two miles or more.  By the way, I put in 26+ years in the Washington State Patrol, retired as a sergeant.  Second career was 16 years driving truck, mostly gasoline tankers over mountain passes.  What's your qualifications?
 @James127 Yes it would. There is a LOT of friction, but they are brakes and one stuck brake won't overcome the power of the engine. Without going into huge amounts of detail, air brakes basically work in the opposite way your car brakes do. By default the brakes are on due to very strong springs pushing the pads against the drums. The air pressure is what releases them. If there is an obstruction in the air line, disconnection, bad diaphram, etc., then that brake will not release, or may release partially. But even a partially released brake will allow enough friction to get very hot and possibly start a fire. In any case, I can assure you (from experience) that you can drive for quite awhile with a stuck brake and not realize it.
Easter Washington truck drivers must be laughing at your story on "frozen brake lines".
Trucks and or buses parked while the brake bands are wet will result in the brake band
freezing to the brake (wheel) drum after the brakes are set and the vehicle left unattended in
freezing temperatures. Â Any qualified driver knows this and will check to be sure the brakes are
released when he starts to move the vehicle. Â The driver of this bus needs to be repreminded
and sent to remedial driver training.Â
@Forest you don't know what you're talking about in this case. The drive axle is at the rear on that bus. Moving it AT ALL is enough to break the brakes loose. Also, At that point in the trip that bus had been driving for at least half an hour, probably a lot more. Frozen or overheated brakes would have been apparent long before it got as far as it did. I actually saw the bus just after the fire started. The flames were still small but clearly coming from the engine bay. This is a maintenance issue pure and simple. This is certainly NOT the first First Transit bus that has blown up on the freeway. Their mx dpt sucks.
 @metalhead  @Forest You're right that a freeze at the brake shoe would have broken loose and the ice would have melted. It's really not cold enough here for it to stay frozen for very long. If it was a brake problem then it was probably moisture in the air line or a failed brake can. Of course it could be a fire that started in the engine compartment too. We may never know.
 @chuckh0308  @metalhead  @ForestÂ
It DEFINITELY started in the engine compartment.  I saw it with my own two eyes.  Still small flames coming from the area of the radiator grill on the left side,  and possibly deeper in the engine too.  No where near the wheel or brakes.  Most likely that oil or fuel leaked on the hot turbo housing or exhaust and ignited, due to improper maintenance.  At least two other First Transit busses, that I have seen myself, had similar failures that resulted in catastrophic engine failure but not fire.  There IS a pattern here.  FT will of course deny it and blame the weather.  But there's no way ice was a factor here when that bus had already gone AT LEAST 8 miles up the freeway just to start the trip, then all the way from Everett to Seattle before the problem started.  And that might not have been the first trip of the morning for that bus either.
Good job to the bus driver, and the passengers for listening. I got stuck in the back up going Northbound at 830 of all the lookyloos.Â
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Traffic sucks already - people constantly whine about it, yet they make it worse by gawking. There was no reason for Northbound to be backed up except people decided to gawk. Stop gawking.
The driver is my uncle but he did not want recognition. :(
 @lenochka7 I was a passenger on the bus. Your uncle was amazingly calm throughout and really was the last person off the bus.Â
 @lenochka7 I can honestly say I like the "all cool here :)" instead of "just saying"
Your uncle did a awesome job and please tell him thank you for us.Â
 @lenochka7...but you did?
 @sims Sims, did I ask for recognition? My point was: I AM PROUD OF MY UNCLE AND I WISH THAT HE LET PEOPLE THANK HIM BECAUSE HE DESERVES IT! All cool now?
@lenochka7 @sims The 510 has some very good drivers. I don't know how they keep their cool. I usually bundle up in the mornings but I guess that wouldn't have been a problem today.
 @Blackwater LLC That was specifically for Sims, just in case he missed something. All cool here. :)
 @lenochka7 CAPS LOCK KEY IS ON...TURN IT OFF...press CAPS LOCK and it turns OFF. All cool now?
 @lenochka7 But for his actions, this could have been a tragic event.  He did an excellent job today.  Many thanks.  My lovely co-worker was on that bus and I am very glad she is still with us.
Thank God this hero bus driver didnt panic and held himself together. I wish we had his name so we could properly thank him. I am in a wheelchair so I can relate to how scary that must have been for the passengers. Way to go, hero.
The "explosion" was probably a tire that burst, but the cause of the fire is almost 100% likely a seized brake can (very common failure, especially in freezing weather). I bet the driver was wondering why the bus felt a little heavy or sluggish...you can definitely feel it, but it usually takes awhile to realize that it's the brakes and not a power or weight issue. And if the bus is full then it would obviously feel that way anyway. A smoke trail following is usually the first real clue that something is amiss, but that would be harder to see in the dark. Glad everyone got out OK!
I must of passed by just as it pulled over a little before 7. I saw smoke but no flames in the back and from what I could tell is that it was standing room only in there, or maybe they were waiting for the doors to open but it looked like quite a few more people than 24. That's a pretty intense fire that borke out. Glad everyone made it out safely. Yikes.
Hip hip! Great job bus driver!
If a 787 can catch fire why not a bus?
That is seriously scary. Not only is your bus exploding but you have to bail onto the freeway in rush hour traffic. Those are some lucky people.
Glad to hear about the great work of the bus driver and safety of the passengers.
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Also, the first reporter, speaking over the VO, said "heigth" -- presumably a paid professional of KOMO
Excellent job on the bus drivers part! My mother drives a bus like this up north in Vancouver! Sure hope this doesn't happen to her EVER. A little confused as to why the driver doesn't want to be identified. Possibly he doesn't want all the attention for being the hero of the day?
 @fremonsterÂ
Transit agencies don't normally allow employees to talk to the press without company permission.
This was indeed an ST rt 510 that is contracted to First Transit (not CT, Pierce or Metro). The operator did a great job getting folks safely off after pulling over to the far right lane. It's extremely dangerous deboarding on the freeway and generally prohibited unless WSP is on the scene to assist. I was in the rt 511 stopped just 300 yards north of the coach fire and watched the entire event. When we arrived it was fully engulfed with flames reaching well beyond the 85 St overpass. Only 2 fire trucks were on the scene. These were quickly met by another 10-12 WSP and fire response teams from various jurisdictions. We sat a good 45 minutes 'till they let us through. I hope First Transit commends their driver of that bus.
Wow..I ride one of those every day. Maybe I should pack a fire extinguisher.
Lets ban all buses since they are a threat to everyones safety and welfare. People are being constantly run over by these rolling behemoths and now they are mobile firetraps! Good grief, where does the carnage end?
 @Suspishissofu How about we ban idiots that make stupid comments that are out of context with the story?
 @Suspishissofu Yes, because this joke has not been over-played AT ALL the past few weeks! You are so clever.
 @Suspishissofu Was this a satire on anti-gun laws?
Now that's a fire!!
 @dkgiovenco Eddie!!!
I am so thankful everyone is OK. Good job driver!!
I was on that bus. There were far more than 24 passengers. The driver's actions saved our lives.Â
 @Angele Russell-Knox Turns out it was the 510. Glad you are safe. When I am not in the vanpool I take the 6:30 510. today I was running late and was on the 7:10 bus.Â
 @Angele Russell-Knox Was it the 510?
@Angele Russell-Knox I am so glad you are all ok! That is good to hear about the driver. Metro drivers have been getting such a bad rap lately, it might be good to notify the powers that be and let them know.
@The WA Mama If that was the 510, it wouldn't be Metro, but instead Community Transit
I should make one correction, the employee would be part of the contracted company CT hired to run their commuter service (unless they moved it back in house)
@germantank29 Yes it's a sound transit route, but the operator would have been an employee of Community transit, not Metro transit.
 @choliscott  No.  Sound Transit