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Jan 16, 2009 6:48 pm US/Central
Numerous School Buses Break Down Amid Frigid Temps
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Several buses broke down Thursday morning and now the district is trying to figure out what went wrong.
CBS
Frigid weather the past couple of days caused big problems for one metro school district.
Bloomington schools were closed Friday, but not just because of cold weather at the bus stops. The district was worried some buses would not make it to the stops today.
Several buses broke down Thursday morning and now the district is trying to figure out what went wrong.
"It was really, really cold," said 7th grader Sean Brodsky.
Brodsky thought he'd be fine with a hat and jacket at the bus stop, but it was 20 below zero Thursday morning and his bus had broken down. Sean waited out in the cold for 40 minutes before he went home.
"My face felt hard as a rock, frozen. My feet hurt a lot," said Brodsky.
Twelve buses running students on Thursday broke down and then five more backup buses did the same.
The district says anywhere from 35 to 50 students were left out in the cold for an average of about 15 minutes. Luckily, no one suffered frostbite.
"We have found that the use of the biodiesel fuel, the blend that we use that school districts are required to use in their transportation fleet, caused our fuel filters on those buses to basically clog up," said Rick Kaufman, Executive Director Community Relations for Bloomington Public Schools
Researchers from the University of Minnesota took a sample of the fuel from Bloomington to test. In addition to analyzing the fuel, the district is also looking at the age and design of the buses and how those vehicles are stored.
Sean Brodsky won't ever wait so long at the bus stop again. His dad hopes the district finds a solution soon.
"I realize it hasn't been this cold in a long time, but it's still, it's Minnesota and it can happen at any time," said Dave Brodsky.
All diesel sold in Minnesota since 2005 has 2 percent biodiesel, made from plants or animals.
According to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the clogging is not a problem with biodiesel fuel, but diesel fuel in general.
Other Midwestern states are reporting problems with regular diesel fuel as well.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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