M’s players given oxygen for smoke inhalation

Associated Press

SEATTLE – Manager Lou Piniella and several Mariners players were given oxygen for smoke inhalation after a bus carrying some of the team to the airport caught fire in Boston’s Ted Williams Tunnel.

Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus said Piniella, who was on a team bus ahead of the one that caught fire, was given oxygen for about half an hour Sunday. Niehaus declined to say which players were given oxygen.

“We’re on our way to the airport. I’m in the first bus, and the bus pulls over,” Niehaus said Monday. “We didn’t know why. Then all of a sudden we began smelling smoke from the second bus.

“Lou Piniella got out, I think to see if he could help, and ran into a wall of smoke.”

The driver of the second bus, Michael M. Fraser of Newton, Mass., was treated and released from Boston Medical Center, where he was examined for smoke inhalation, said Don Ogden, owner of the Yankee Bus company.

Ogden said Fraser was back at work on Monday.

Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs told KIRO-TV that Fraser was helped to safety by catcher Dan Wilson.

The Mariners were on their way to Logan International Airport following a 3-2 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park when the fire started. They flew back to Seattle on Sunday night.

The first bus was carrying rookies, staff and members of the media, including Niehaus. The second was carrying trainers and veterans, including Wilson, right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, center fielder Mike Cameron and second baseman Bret Boone.

“We had to get out and just run for it, basically,” outfielder Desi Relaford told KIRO Radio. “It was dark and smoky. We were lucky to get off.”

The buses pulled over near the end of the tunnel, and the players and staff from the second bus crowded onto the first, Niehaus said.

“I would say everybody pretty well kept their cool. It was darn smoky, and there was a lot of coughing, but it was all very orderly,” he said.

Niehaus, a Mariners commentator since the team was founded in 1977, said that once the bus left the tunnel, it stopped to let everyone get some fresh air.

When the team boarded its flight back to Seattle, Piniella requested oxygen, he said. Several players also requested oxygen, which was administered by firefighters who checked on the Mariners before the plane took off.

The firefighters also checked blood pressure and other vital signs, Niehaus said.

Boston Fire Department spokesman Ron Caron said the cause of the fire was under investigation. The bus company’s owner said it was probably an electrical fire in the battery compartment in the rear of the bus.

The fire caused about $200,000 in damage to the bus and equipment, Caron said.

The Ted Williams Tunnel was named after the Red Sox Hall of Famer who was the last major leaguer to hit .400. Williams batted .406 in 1941.