D-DOT Bus Garage Fire

[Danny]

More doom and gloom for Detroit Department of Transportation when a fire broke out in the garage at the Coolidge Terminal. About 8 to 25 busses all brand new are gone. Detroit firefighters and Hazmat teams put out a 2 alarm blaze. So far there are some brief delay of its peak routes but D-DOT busses are still running in its streets.

[bc_n_dtown]

Unfortunately, the area of the fire was where the newest buses [[delivered spring 2010) were housed, but fortunately the number destroyed has been downsized from 25 when first reported to five or six. Ironically, the Coolidge facility is scheduled to close for renovation next month, Jan 14, 2012.

Here's video coverage from WXYZ-TV7:
http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/...-ddot-facility

[Zacha341]

Story links:

http://www.freep.com/article/2011120...yssey=nav|head

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...-side-20111207

[Scottathew]

My commute to work took me on 8-Mile and Woodward and bus service still seemed to be running within an acceptable level of quality.

I hope DDOT was able to figure out how to make the routes work with less buses.

[Lowell]

Hopefully the loss is covered by insurance. This is a bad loss in a tough time.

[Scottathew]

Hopefully the loss is covered by insurance. This is a bad loss in a tough time.

Many cities self-insure. I know that Warren self insures its fire trucks.

I agree, I hope that they have insurance on these!

[Johnnny5]

The loss of the buses will hurt, but at least no one was injured. If this fire happened in a working area there's also the issue of the lost working space and equipment as well. As the mechanics were already behind to lose tools, lifts, parts and other items is probably going to slow things down as much as losing the buses.

[bc_n_dtown]

The city of Detroit is self-insured.

Regarding the fire's location, I understand that the fire [[although rather large) was confined to an annex area adjacent to the vehicle maintenance building separated by a fire wall. At the time it was being used to house mostly the newer coaches. But now it appears that the roof will also have to be rebuilt during the upcoming renovations.

[Hypestyles]

...this will probably be brought up at the TRU meeting on thursday..

[bartock]

"Self insured" doesn't mean for everything. These buses are insured [[see link). I'm surprised Warren self-insures its equipment.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/6...j/-/index.html

[DetroitPlanner]

My commute to work took me on 8-Mile and Woodward and bus service still seemed to be running within an acceptable level of quality.

I hope DDOT was able to figure out how to make the routes work with less buses.

Woodward buses come out of Shoemaker. The facility in question is Coolidge. Incidentally this is a clue to how old the building is. While the street is still called Coolidge in Oakland County and downriver, its been known as Schaefer forever through Detroit and Dearborn.

[gnome]

From the freep article:

Problems with water service were hindering efforts to put out the blaze, Detroit Fire Department Senior Chief Michael Herron said. The sprinkler system inside the building did not work properly, and there are few fire hydrants on or near the facility, he said. McNulty said investigators will be reviewing workers' claims that the sprinkler system did not go on until the fire began to rage through the building.

The question is: is there anything in Detroit that works the way it should? Crime lab? nope. Lighting dept? nope. DPD still under a consent decree. EMS running on bald tires.

jeeze.

[bc_n_dtown]

Woodward buses come out of Shoemaker. The facility in question is Coolidge. Incidentally this is a clue to how old the building is. While the street is still called Coolidge in Oakland County and downriver, its been known as Schaefer forever through Detroit and Dearborn.

Yes DetroitPlanner. The original Coolidge facility opened in 1928 and was named after the street on which it was located, Coolidge Highway. Coolidge was reneamed Schaefer in 1931 but the facility was never renamed. The current buildings were completed in 1948 after the location was reconstructed and converted into an all bus terminal.


Slight correcction: The Woodward line is assigned out of the "Gilbert" Terminal, and has been since 1970 when the Highland Park Terminal was closed down. It did operate out of Shoemaker for a short period [[btwn 2003-04) when Gilbert was being rehabbed, but returned in 2004. However, effective Jan 14, 2012, the Woodward line will be reassigned to the remolded and reopened Shoemaker Terminal.

[Scottathew]

I'm surprised Warren self-insures its equipment.

Yup, me too. We had a firetruck that was t-boned by a semi truck at 9 Mile and Sherwood, it destroyed the truck. We don't have the fund to replace it, so we're "borrowing" a fire truck from Sterling Heights.

[Scottathew]

Yes DetroitPlanner. The original Coolidge facility opened in 1928 and was named after the street on which it was located, Coolidge Highway. Coolidge was reneamed Schaefer in 1931 but the facility was never renamed. The current buildings were completed in 1948 after the location was reconstructed and converted into an all bus terminal.


Slight correcction: The Woodward line is assigned out of the "Gilbert" Terminal, and has been since 1970 when the Highland Park Terminal was closed down. It did operate out of Shoemaker for a short period [[btwn 2003-04) when Gilbert was being rehabbed, but returned in 2004. However, effective Jan 14, 2012, the Woodward line will be reassigned to the remolded and reopened Shoemaker Terminal.

This information is fascinating. When the road was renamed, were there populated areas around it? Do you know of the reason why it was renamed?

Thanks!

[bartock]

Yup, me too. We had a firetruck that was t-boned by a semi truck at 9 Mile and Sherwood, it destroyed the truck. We don't have the fund to replace it, so we're "borrowing" a fire truck from Sterling Heights.

Penny wise, pound foolish.

[birwood]

One of the Fire Chiefs at the scene on Ch-2 news stated that the Sprinkler system was Out Of Service in that structure. Why and how long it's been down is anybodys guess....BUT...Had that system been In-Service, the damage would have been held to the point of origin and damage to the other vehicles inside and to the structure itself would have been minimal. Birwood- DFD ret.

[wolverine]

^ Somebody has to be held accountable that the sprinkler system isn't working. It should have been inspected routinely. I can't even believe DDot didn't have this system working. Heck the sprinkler system in my apartment as well as my friends' are inspected once a year. Why isn't a bus garage held to the same standards?

This is a huge embarrassment to DDOT. It's also unfortunate people had to risk their lives to save the buses.

[Huggybear]

Arson, anyone? This happened in a facility a day after the city announced its layoffs. There is nothing "under" a diesel bus that would spontaneously combust. The engine is in the back, the exhaust is on the top, and diesel fuel has a flash point of over 140º F and an auto-ignition point of 410º F [[burning paper is 451º). It's probably no more than 60º in that facility. Do the math.

[skyl4rk]

When were layoffs announced? I was looking for in the News but didn't see anything about it.

[bc_n_dtown]

Arson, anyone? This happened in a facility a day after the city announced its layoffs. There is nothing "under" a diesel bus that would spontaneously combust. The engine is in the back, the exhaust is on the top, and diesel fuel has a flash point of over 140º F and an auto-ignition point of 410º F [[burning paper is 451º). It's probably no more than 60º in that facility. Do the math.

Not being a diesel mechanic I couldn't argue either way regarding the points you made. But one thing I know for a fact is that over the 30-plus years I worked at DDOT there have been a number of buses that have gone up in flames, many of which were attributed to overheated engines. In the following channel 4 story, Marc Santia suggests that one possible cause under investigation is a NHTSA recall of 2010 New Flyer diesel buses due to engine fires.

After doing an online search I discovered that there is an Aug 2011 vehicle fire hazard/engine cooling system recall of certain New Flyer model D40LFR buses built in 2010. Although the DDOT fleet is the D40LF model, and were manufactured in 2010 just prior to the effective recall date, it does seem to point to an existing problem.

Here's the WDIV story:
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/DDOT-employees-drive-buses-out-of-blaze/-/1719418/4896030/-/ih57r4z/-/index.html

[Rocko]

Shoemaker is about to reopen as a new state-of-the art bus garage and crew base. Many of the old DSR buildings have been demolished, including the old office building and at least one old streetcar carhouse, for new garages for DDOT coaches. The site looks significantly different than it did a few years ago.

Following the upgrading of the Gilbert Terminal [[which is at I-94 near Wabash) around 2004, Shoemaker Terminal closed for this massive rebuild. Once Shoemaker reopens, Coolidge will close for a rebuild, thus renewing all three of DDOT's garages over a 10 year period. While some historic elements dating to the DSR era are now gone, the investment in DDOT is nice, although if the buses don't run, what's the point?

The site of Coolidge Terminal has changed a lot over the past 8-10 years. The lot behind the terminal used to be a DDOT/DSR "Graveyard" of sorts, with a wide assortment of old coaches, some of which dated back to the late 1960s and early 70s. These have slowly been cleared out and scrapped in preparation for the rebuild of the terminal.

DDOT still runs a fleet of nearly 10 year old RTS coaches and at least a couple hundred New Flyer D40LF coaches. A fleet of new Gillig coaches is due to arrive in the coming months.

The fact that the sprinkler system and fire hydrants on property didn't work isn't surprising, but certainly points to the fact that these investments in the DDOT system are more than necessary. Too bad several million dollars worth of new buses had to go up in smoke in the process.

[downtown_racine]

The loss of some of the newest busses of the fleet to fire New diesels do have some hot running catalytic converter type devices, also electrical fires on big power wires in a newly assembled bus could suck .

Feds gave our bus co 75% of the money for 14 new buses so the last of the GMC RTS busses will be leaving our city, 16 years old and 750,000 miles.