Fire burns parked Turlock transit buses

A blaze severely damaged four parked transit buses powered by compressed natural gas late Saturday at a city corporation yard not far from a fire station.

The fire was reported at 11:25 p.m. at 701 S. Walnut Road, directly behind Turlock Fire Station 32 and just of west of Highway 99. The first firetruck arrived at the city yard within one minute.

The firefighters found flames burning one of the buses, and the fire was spreading to three others that were parked nearby, according to the Turlock Fire Department. The buses were part of a transit line called the Bus Line Service of Turlock.

The flames heated the compressed natural gas tanks on the buses, causing their pressure relief valves to open. Fire officials said the escaping natural gas created extremely high fire hazard conditions.

Firefighters used Ladder Truck 32 to attack the blaze with elevated streams of water. The firefighting attack penetrated the intense heat from the blaze and stopped the flames from spreading to the rest of the buses and a fleet of vehicles from Dial-A-Ride of Turlock.

Fire officials on Sunday said the cause was still under investigation. The blaze caused an estimated $400,000 in damage.

Fire Chief Robert Talloni said in a news release that the firefighters and their well-placed hose lines stopped the fire’s spread and limited the amount of damage.

A total of 19 firefighters from two agencies worked together at the scene. The Turlock Fire Department used three fire engines and the ladder truck to tackle the blaze. The Ceres Fire Department assisted with one engine.

This story was originally published February 12, 2017 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Fire burns parked Turlock transit buses."