1985 Monorail Fire!

[AKLRULZ]

Did y'all ever hear about this?!

... plus a few stories that Disney World management would just as soon forget. Like that time back in June of 1985 when Monorail Silver caught fire. And with the train stopped dead a half mile south of the Ticket & Transportation Center, it was only the resourcefulness of two WDW visitors (Who first pulled open the doors of the car they were trapped in. Then -- after climbing up on the roof of their monorail -- they pulled all of the other passengers in their compartment up onto the top of the train. Everyone then walked along the top of the monorail and -- after sliding down the windshield to the two-foot-wide beam -- walked the rest of the way to the TTC) that saved those 240 passengers after the last two cars of Monorail Silver were entirely engulfed in flames.

LINK

[Lion Sleeps Tonight]

Holy crap. How terrifying. Good thinking for the two passengers.

[Joe90]

Got to wonder if the train stopping was good or bad.
What would they have done if the train had continued on? Climb on the roof of a moving burning train? Then what? Not a good idea to slide down the front! Stand around until you get knocked off at the TTC what's the headroom like there?
I doubt the fire started within the carriage more likely on a motor or air conditioner.
I hope they have better fire detecting and fighting equipment installed now. Something similar to that fitted to aircraft engines would do the trick easy to install on every carriage and relatively inexpensive.

[Jacca5660]

WOW!! I've never heard of this before. I bet there's a web site.

[casrin]

Holy cow!

I had a book on Disneyland "horror stories" a few years ago; "Behind the Mouse" it was called, or something like that. Hadn't heard this WDW story though!

[SimonTemplar]

Holy crap. How terrifying. Good thinking for the two passengers.

I vaguely remember that, because it was during my freshman year at college. Don't you know that a few un-Disney words were used during that evacuation!! Hopefully they were rewarded somehow, and especially those who led their fellow passengers to safety.

[danimal3114u]

I don't recall this at all either, but it's a good story about people taking charge and being able to save others and find a way out. Thanks for the post and link!

[Croaker]

Wow for sure.

although this would be a great movie...imagine the monorail looping the 7 seas lagoon on fire with no brakes! Speed 3 starring Keanu Reaves and Sandra Bullock/James. i'll add this to the rides you would like to see as a movie.

[Hypermommy]

I don't remember if it was this week or a few weeks ago, but the Inside the Magic podcast did an interview with a cast member. I was listening to it last night. Hard to hear some of it becuase the cast member was so softspoken, but I remember they were talking something about how they have fire extinguishers on the cars now and if there's a fire there are procedures. I remember thinking "how would a guest know those procedures" but I guess that's when the pilot gets on and starts talking to you about what to do. Anyway... I'm going to re-listen to it becuase I would like to hear what the guy was saying. Y'all might want to check it out too.... http://www.distantcreations.com/insidethemagic.

[jozel27]

Well it could have been alot worse. Thank god those passengers escaped unharmed. Did they ever say what had caused the fire?

[DisBeamer]

Holy cow. That's scary.

that saved those 240 passengers after the last two cars of Monorail Silver were entirely engulfed in flames.

Doesn't that seem like a lot of people mooshed into two cars? I guess it must have been a busy time of day. Thank goodness everyone got out. I hope the quick thinking people that helped everyone escape were rewarded.

[ralberts]

I always wondered what would happen on on the beam. There are some places that are just too high to jump, and what about people that are in wheel chairs or strollers. Plus, I do not have the best balance so walking the beam would not be on my list of experiences that I would like to have at WDW.

[DisBeamer]

This is kind of interesting. I was looking at wikipedia for something else and turned this up.

On June 26, 1985, a fire engulfed the rear car of the six-car Mark IV Silver monorail train in transit from the Epcot station to the Transportation and Ticket Center.[9] The train was carrying 240 passengers, 40 of whom were in the burning car.[10] This fire predated onboard fire detection systems, emergency exits, and evacuation planning. Passengers in the car kicked out side windows and climbed around the side of the train to reach the roof, where they were subsequently rescued by the Reedy Creek Fire Department.[9] Seven passengers were hospitalized for smoke inhalation or other minor injuries.[11] The fire department later determined that the fire started when a flat tire was dragged across the concrete beam, heated due to friction, and ignited.[12]

Now, of course wiki's not always accurate, but they do cite sources (you can link to them in the actual article). 40 people in the car certainly sounds more reasonable than 240, anyway. Link to the wiki page. It talks about the incident (and others) close to the bottom.

[AKLRULZ]

Yeah I guess the 240 was referring to the total number of passengers on the monorail trail. Crazy still!

[tmptnr]

wow never heard about this. Those passengers have a real story to tell.