On 6/09/2017 5:38 PM, 'Roderick Smith'rodsmith@... [TramsDownUnder] wrote:
>

> St Kilda Rd tram ‘explosion’ shuts down eight routes in both directions.

> Herald Sun September 5, 2017.

> TERRIFIED passengers threatened to break a window on their St Kilda Rd tram when the driver refused to open the doors after it was rocked by an explosion caused by overhead wires.

> Passenger Kate Grandison told the Herald Sun she and a work colleague were on the tram — carrying about 30 passengers — when the wires failed, causing the side of their carriage to catch fire about 9.30am at the corner of Toorak Rd.

> “We heard an explosion and saw sparks flying and smoke,” she said.

> “Our immediate reaction was to move away from the burning window and run.

> “Passengers kept calling out to the driver to release the doors but nothing happened.

> “After the second explosion myself and other passengers moved to the front of the tram and threatened to break a window if the door was not released.

> “The tram driver appeared to have gone into total shock.

> “We were just trapped in there, I thought the whole tram was going to explode. I’ve never experienced something like that before, my heart was going at a million miles an hour.”

>


The passengers didn't realise (how would they know?) that the tram driver may well have saved their lives by not letting them out until the power went off.

Mal Rowe - who has seen some quite spectacular electrical fires