Survivor, Nurse Describe Bus Fire That Killed 23 Hurricane Evacuees

AP TBO ^ | September 25, 2005 | Sheila Flynn and Betsy Blaney

[Rebelbase]

"The bus, run by Global Limo of McAllen, Texas, was taken out of service in July after its registration expired. It was allowed back on the road because of a waiver signed last week by Gov. Rick Perry intended to make available as many commercial vehicles as possible for the hurricane evacuation."

It looks like the State of Texas will be paying out on the ensuing lawsuit settlements.

[nmh]

How sad and horrifying.

[hadaclueonce]

sounds like a bad wheel bearing to me. They go bad the rim gets very hot, very hot.

[jwpjr]

re: sounds like a bad wheel bearing to me

Or perhaps a flat tire? I have seen tractor-trailers catch fire and be consumed by a fire that started in a flat tire. I was behind one once when a tire on the trailer suddenly burst int flames. At 70 mph it only took a minute or so for the wind to fan the flames. Of course, this bus was making no where near 70 mph!

[Budge]

At least the driver had enough sense to pull over before the blast/fire.

He deserves a lot of credit for saving those who lived.

[kerosene]

A former "senior" coworker of mine had a flat while driving on the freeway on her way to the office. She decided to continue driving on the flat, since the office "was only a few miles away." She pulled her white Lincoln Town Car into the parking lot with the left front tire on fire. Several people ran out and extinguished the fire with some sand that was next to the building. After the wheel cooled off, some people changed her tire, and she drove home in her white car with a black fender.

[sam_paine]

They do mention stopping earlier for fixing a blown tire. A bad wheel bearing (or a locked brake rotor) or something might have heated the wheel enough to blow it. And then again, finally catching the bus afire.

Either way, something mundane went wrong and burned up the bus. And people died. NTSB will spend $1.1M for this finding.

[montag813]

"We saw someone who looked like Dick Cheney..and then suddenly everything was in flames!"

[SlowBoat407]

The bus, run by Global Limo of McAllen, Texas, was taken out of service in July after its registration expired. It was allowed back on the road because of a waiver signed last week by Gov. Rick Perry intended to make available as many commercial vehicles as possible for the hurricane evacuation.

This in no way vindicates Nagin and Blanco for not putting buses in service in New Orleans.

[Kaslin]

Indeed it doesn't

[mewzilla]

The driver checked outside the vehicle and apparently noticed a problem, perhaps seeing flames or smoke. He briefly conferred with aides and yelled for passengers to get off the bus.

Shouldn't he have told people to turn off their O2? Or were the cannisters not in use?

[null and void]

Fixed the typo:

"I was complaining about the brakes," Partain said Sunday. "My attorney asked me if those buses are dangerous, and I said, 'Yes, somebody's going to get killed sued.'"

[Kaslin]

You mean as they were getting on the bus? I am sure he had no idea what would happen

[mewzilla]

No, when stopped the second time, if he saw and/or smelled smoke.

[Kaslin]

I see. Perhaps everything happend so fast and who knows the elderly might not have heard him either if he did

[null and void]

What's with the large font?

[Textide]

One of the great things about FR vs other forums is that most posters here don't feel the need to alter their fonts. This makes threads easier to read. So far as I know, there's no rule about altering fonts or (something equally annoying) attaching pics to each posts. I would hate to see this become a trend.

[null and void]

*shrug* I like the color...

[jwpjr]

My heart really goes out to this unfortunate fellow. This was a classic example of a confluence of conditions that led to disaster. Had the bus been full of NFL football players no one would have died, they could have fled the bus just fine. But as luck would have it, many of those on board were not able to walk or get off the bus without assistance. Then add the oxygen that was probably being used by passengers and you have a recipe for disaster. My heart goes out to everyone associated with this terrible event. God bless them!