Spring Break
PARTA bus catches fire
Kenny Brown and Cody Francis
Issue date: 2/20/09 Section: Latest Headlines
WATCH a video about the PARTA bus fire.VIEW a photo from the fire.
At 7:52 a.m. this morning the Kent Fire Department dispatch received a call saying a Portage Area Regional Transit Authority bus had caught on fire. The Bus was by the Kent State Student Center when the flames broke out. Three people were aboard the bus including the driver. All three of the passengers exited the bus safely.
"The driver pulled in the student center and noticed smoke coming from the back of the bus, said Joe Yensel, operations manager for PARTA. "The driver and the two passengers exited the bus immediately."
Yensel said the bus was a "total loss", about $200,000 in costs.
Kent Fire department, Kent State police and PARTA had the area cleaned up and the bus towed away in about two hours.
"The main thing is nobody was hurt," said Lieutenant Paula Rossi of the KSUPD.
Yensel said the bus that caught on fire went through a "full refurbishment" three years ago.
"The bus may have been a little bit older, but it was totally rebuilt," he said. "This was a mechanical malfunction, not necessarily due to the age of the vehicle."
The investigation as to how the engine caught on fire is still underway.
"All we know is it started in the engine and it was electric," Yensel said. "We will know more as time goes on."
This the first time a PARTA bus was considered a "total loss" since 2000.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 18
Sally
posted 2/20/09 @ 10:16 AM EST
Kenny Brown!
What a professional reporter!
Good work!
Will
posted 2/20/09 @ 2:54 PM EST
The bus that was lost in 2000 was it little sister unit 86 a shorter version of this bus and it was an electrical fire, that bus was at that time ran by Campus Bus Service and burnt up inside the garage of FTC(KSU Research building on 59). (Continued…)
The Voice
posted 2/20/09 @ 3:10 PM EST
Ohhh snap.
John Holmes
posted 2/20/09 @ 4:22 PM EST
No way that death trap jalopy is worth $200k. Maybe brand new 30 years ago.
I have no name
posted 2/21/09 @ 5:00 PM EST
I would've put the fire out myself by throwing snowballs at it.
Inquisitive Mind
posted 2/22/09 @ 12:19 PM EST
One time, I was in the McDonald's drive-thru, waiting for my order, when smoke/steam(?) started coming from underneath the hoodof my pickup truck. I put it in park, got out & popped the hood upon which the engine promptly burst into flames! Seems a seems a portion of the fuel line between the fuel filter and the carburator was made of rubber; aged. (Continued…)
V
posted 2/23/09 @ 12:03 PM EST
I'm glad nobody was hurt. It's too bad though. 96 was fun to drive, and those Detroit 2-strokers were always cool to hear screaming through campus. It's funny, but I always thought it would have been 97 that would have died a horrific death first. (Continued…)
Old Campus Driver
posted 2/23/09 @ 6:01 PM EST
Just goes to show you! Instead of being CHEAP and having 2 Old Pieces of Crap Overhauled for the same price as 1 new bus, just freaking buy 2 new buses!!! Personally, I don't even think the 40 ft buses were necessary to begin with. (Continued…)
Tina Barta
posted 2/23/09 @ 10:20 PM EST
It is because they are junk! The brakes barely work, the make noise, the stall out all the time...
Richard Cungwell
posted 2/23/09 @ 11:55 PM EST
Well this story actually reminds me of something else that has been happening lately. Recently everyone is talking about this "SCOOTER" character that is allegedly now the mascot that appears on the menu for Rosie's Late Night Delivery Service. (Continued…)
Post a Comment