Courtesy, Ozark Regional Transit
A fire destroyed 20 buses inside the Ozark Regional Transit canopy early Tuesday morning, according to a message posted on the ORT website.
Two roadworthy buses survived the fire, one that was shielded from the flames and another that was still in service at 2 a.m. Another two buses were receiving minor maintenance and will be placed in service Tuesday as the new Commuter Express route and Route 65 in Springdale. Two additional buses were undergoing off-site maintenance, and should be placed back in service in a few days. All minivans survived the fire.
“ORT will endeavor to accommodate as many passengers as is possible with this depleted fleet, but all services are subject to interruption, rescheduling, and/or cancellation,” the message stated. “More information will be provided as it becomes available. We ask for patience and understanding as we work diligently to recover from this incident.”
Joel Gardner, executive director, said at least two other transit services have agreed to loan the organization some buses, which could help ORT get up to 10 routes running by the end of the week.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
