[Steve_Seattle]

"And the histrionic FReeper would be the type to have knee-jerk speculations on an already painful situation."

I see your point, but this bus fire is so unusual - no collision involved - and so extreme, that it is incredibly weird that it happened just at the worst possible time and the worst possible place, i.e., a bus full of seniors with oxygen tanks catches fire in the middle of a major evacuation. It is bizarre almost beyond belief, so I forgive those who speculate about terrorism.

[Gondring]

I see your point, but this bus fire is so unusual

It's also unusual to be moving so many people with such urgency. The chance of a regular old garden-variety (non-terrorist) problem increases more than linearly as numbers and urgency are added (people act less safely when rushed...perhaps leaving a valve open, or pushing equipment too hard, or getting fatigued faster). Besides, odd accidents happen quite often...this one just becomes so noticeable above the noise because of our focus there.

But besides the horror of it, if this is all that Al Q. can manage (something that strikes less terror than just tragic sorrow), then it looks like we're winning quite handily, eh?