MBTA bus catches fire, two workers transported to hospital

BOSTON — The issues facing the MBTA keep rolling in, as an MBTA bus caught fire, Thursday afternoon. Two workers were taken to the hospital as a result.

The incident took place in Jamaica Plain, shortly after 3 p.m. according to T officials.

“I said oh my goodness that bus is on fire,” said Darragh Murphy who witnessed the bus burning as she drove past the Forest Hills T station.

Murphy could barely believe what she was seeing.

“Out of the corner of my eye, on the left side, I thought I saw some flames,” she said.

Murphy stopped to take a picture.

Bus on fire on Washington Street just outside Forest Hills. Kudos to the driver for safely driving their ON FIRE bus into the @MBTA yard. Also kudos to @BostonFire for arriving in less than a minute and putting out the fire.❤️🙏🏼 🔥 #bospoli Please stay safe out there today. pic.twitter.com/VZyBpYDUdh
— Darragh Murphy (@DarraghCMurphy) August 4, 2022

“An out of service bus had just returned to the MBTA Arborway bus yard when flames were observed in the vehicle’s rear compartment,” according to the MBTA.

The MBTA says that T personnel “attempted to extinguish the flames, but were unsuccessful.” The Boston Fire Department was called in to put out the flames.

“The Fire Department - God love them, God bless them, they were there within a minute,” said Murphy.

And while this may be an isolated incident, this fire comes a day after the MBTA announced a 30-day shutdown of the Orange Line to make urgent repairs.

Joao Santos is a regular Orange Line commuter.

“It’s very troublesome to hear this,” he said.

After seeing this bus in flames Santos says he’ll avoid buses even if they are from a private charter, which will be the case for busses replacing the Orange Line trains during the shut down, and take the commuter rail, saying right now, he has few options.

“The question is - is there an alternative and there is not and that’s a problem we have right now,” said Santos.

The bus fire sent two MBTA workers to the hospital to be evaluated for possible smoke inhalation. As of Thursday night, one of the workers has been released, the other is currently still at a local hospital being treated, according to the MBTA.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation at this time.

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