As the industry fires back up… some things to consider

While heading from the factory to its new home in New York City, Apple Coach Company’s flagship, a bright red Eagle, burst into flames. The fire was unusual, originating in the front of the coach, under the dashboard. Most bussly “Thermal Events” start in the back, so this one caught the driver’s attention quicker than usual.

The excitement grew when flames ruptured some compressed air lines, generating a napalm moment. It rolled to the shoulder and burned to cinders… known thenceforth as the “Baked Apple”.

One thing that this event had in common with most motorcoach fires was that no one was hurt. One of you may prove me wrong on this… but other than the Hurricane Rita tragedy, the last fatality I’m aware of in a commercial motorcoach fire happened more than 50 years ago.

In that instance a truck hit a gasoline powered coach head on, and it burst into flames, trapping some injured passengers. In the Rita catastrophe, the folks who died were wheelchair bound.

Despite the perception created by the colorful visuals in today’s 24 hour news cycle, and reporters breathlessly declaring that everyone dodged death “in a nick of time”… we are not consistently cremating our customers.

Most coach fires only damage property. That’s bad, and likely to get worse. New Federal mandates force manufacturers to jam an increasing number of chunks of technology in engine compartments. They all seem to generate, and trap, heat, raising ambient temperature closer to the flash point. Some, may provide a source of ignition.

Dual tires (which sometimes blow, and burn) are in the back, close to that hot engine box.

There will always be some fires, because buses are a collection of heat sources and electrical gizmos, crammed into a box full of flammable stuff.

A sizable percentage of our passengers are Senior Citizens, and many of us aren’t quite as agile as we used to be.

Even more vulnerable are the increasing number of wheelchair bound customers we’re carrying. Wheelchair lifts are often in the rear of the coach, creating a situation where our least mobile passengers are seated close to a potential source of one of their greatest fears.... fire. In some configurations, the lift is mounted amidships which may give them a slight head start.

So far we’ve been lucky with regard to fire fatalities. In order to maintain that streak, there are two areas that we may want to look at.
One is technology. Tire monitoring systems can prevent fires by alerting drivers to hot or underinflated tires. They can preserve tires, prevent burning buses, and save lives.

Fire suppression systems should prevent, or drastically slow, engine compartment fires, gaining valuable time to evacuate folks.

Systems ain’t worth diddly squat if they aren’t maintained and working

Second is training. Airliners have trained flight attendants to deal with passengers in emergencies, while the pilot tries to find a parking place. Our driver is all we’ve got.

Have you given thought to how you’d want your driver to handle an incident when wheelchair passengers are aboard?

The situation is compounded by the fact that, at the first hint of fire, the electrical system is going to be shut down, and manually cycling the lift is painfully slow. In most cases physically impaired folks are going to have to be assisted, or carried.

It might help if, at the outset, the driver informally assessed wheelchair bound folk. Are they exceptionally heavy, or fragile? Are nearby passengers able to help in an emergency? Are they going to try and use the lift’s door, the front entrance, or the emergency windows depending on the fires location?

Having a tentative plan might save time if the worst happens.

Someone must have more ideas, and it would be good if we had the discussion in time to prevent a tragedy.

One thing’s for sure. When wheelchair customers are aboard, drivers need to act at the first hint of fire, better too soon than too late…

Passengers in the rear of a line coach approaching Boston smelled smoke, and alerted the driver, who radioed the terminal for instructions. Misunderstanding the severity of the situation, management told him to keep coming. As the coach advanced up the Pike, the fire advanced up the aisle... the driver doggedly forging ahead.

Eventually the heat forced all the passengers into the stepwell, and between the crowding and the smoke, the driver finally decided to stop. As his developing Chariot of Fire coasted to the shoulder, he opened the door, and bellowed the obvious... “EVACUATE”.

Everyone was OK, and it’s a fun story, but it could have ended very differently if there’d been a wheelchair passenger.