DALLAS - Oxygen tanks were stored haphazardly on a bus carrying elderly Hurricane Rita evacuees, accelerating the flames that killed 23 passengers when the poorly maintained vehicle caught fire, according to a case file from the Dallas County Sheriff's Office.
The file outlined findings from the sheriff's investigation into the deadly Sept. 23 bus explosion, The Dallas Morning News reported in its Sunday editions. The file was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board, which will release its full report on the accident within a year, the newspaper reported.
The bus was carrying too many oxygen tanks in the passenger cabin when the bus exploded near Wilmer, according to the sheriff's report. Two tanks ruptured and one melted when the bus caught fire, and other tanks were left unsecured in the cargo hold.
The report also blamed the fire on the vehicle's wheel bearings, which had rusted, fused and broken off. The newspaper reported that file pictures showed particular damage to the right wheel bearings, near where the fire was believed to have started.
"I think there were a number of other issues concerning compliance with the applicable rules," said Kenneth Mead, the former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. "All of those contain a lot of potential for lessons learned."
A lawyer for the bus company, Global Limo, could not immediately be reached.
The file included more than 1,300 photos, witness statements and investigators' conclusions.
Employees of Brighton Gardens of Bellaire, which was evacuating its nursing home residents in the face of the hurricane, said they moved oxygen tanks from storage to the passenger cabin to cut down on the number of stops the bus had to make, according to the report.
During one stop to change a tire, witnesses noticed an unidentified pool of liquid dripping from the bus, according to the newspaper. But it remained unclear in the sheriff's file what role the changed tire or the dripping liquid might have played in the subsequent fire.
After the accident, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued new guidelines for carrying medical oxygen, recommending that tanks be secured in an upright position and limited to one canister per patient in the passenger compartment. But there are no federal regulations for oxygen storage on buses, and oxygen safety training is not required for drivers.
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