Now that yesterday's BART fire is out and trains are moving again, the inevitable finger-pointing has begun. Who bears the blame here?

Is it BART? Why does BART use flammable solvents on its tracks? Is the reason why there was garbage on the tracks to catch on fire because they took out all the trash cans in the station post 9/11? Shouldn't BART have a better way of alerting passengers about track emergencies?

Is it the passengers? The conductor who saw the fire on his way to the Embarcadero Station apparently complied with BART regulations, alerted everyone about the situation, told them to sit tight, and was in the process of walking to the other end of the train so he could drive the train back to Montgomery, when panicky yayhoos pulled the emergency door lever and raced onto the electrified tracks. When the conductor made it back to the other end of the train, he saw that one of the doors was open and realized people had fled. He radioed HQ, who then had to shut down the entire system so no one would get electrocuted, and the conductor then exasperatedly announced, "'A couple of fools decided to jump off the train, so now we're all going to have to evacuate."

Well, to its credit, BART isn't blaming the passengers -- though the passengers aren't really extending the same courtesy to BART. We have a couple of questions, though: Why can't you just hit a button from the front car that puts the train in reverse? Wouldn't you rather be inside a train than outside on the third rail in the middle of a fire? Do the people who pulled the emergency lever feel kind of stupid now for tying up the entire SF transit system?

Final insult: after trekking through dark and frightening train tunnels, the passengers finally made it out at Embarcadero. At which point they had to pay their fare to get out of the station! Harsh. But hey, how else is BART going to be able to pay for the repairs?

Picture from CBS 5. Do you think the firefighters had to pay to get in?