By Tom Benning
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — A Dallas Area Rapid Transit bus caught fire in downtown Dallas Wednesday morning, sending a plume of black smoke over the skyline.
The driver and passengers all got off safely on Main Street near the Old Red Courthouse, but not without a panicked scramble to escape the flames at the rear of the bus.
Christopher Drake, 28, said he was sitting near the back of the bus when the fire started around 11 a.m.
Passengers said the bus had just entered downtown on Fort Worth Avenue when people at the front noticed smoke and shouted “Fire!”
Drake said he and others tried to exit through the back door, but that it wouldn’t budge. So Drake busted the door open with his shoulder and led other passengers off the bus.
Another passenger, George Amaya, saw the jam to get out the back door and sprinted to the front exit.
“Everybody was just in a panic to get off the bus, and the flames just kept burning and burning,” said Amaya, 17.
DART officials at the scene said the cause of the fire was unknown, but spokesman Morgan Lyons confirmed that it started in the bus’s engine compartment.
Another DART spokesman said two people were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Staff writer Meredith Shamburger contributed to this report.
Copyright 2010 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS