Work will begin sometime next year on the rebuilding of the 35-bay Sun Metro Transit Operations Center in El Paso.
That facility, located at 10151 Montana Avenue on the east side of the city, was substantially damaged last February by an explosion and fire that ripped through the building’s bus maintenance garage area.
Later investigation revealed that the blaze was the result of a freak accident when a Sun Metro bus accidentally fell off a hydraulic lift in the garage, causing an adjacent control panel to smash into and puncture a compressed natural gas cylinder.
The puncture, according to a report subsequently filed by the El Paso Fire Marshall’s Office, “resulted in the uncontrolled release of flammable gas.” From there, the “resulting mechanical friction and/or electrical current ignited that gas-air mixture,” causing the explosion.
Two workers were killed and eleven injured as a result of the explosion.
Built in 2013, the Operations Center was declared to be unsafe owing to damage from the incident. In April, collapsed roof material and what were described in a City of El Paso press release as “severely compromised walls” were removed from the scene.
Members of the El Paso City Council are now about to approve a contract to begin the process of rebuilding the facility. According to published reports, it appears likely that the council will approve a contract with the El Paso-based architectural firm Alvidrez Associates to begin the reconstruction process.
The contract will be for both architect and engineering design services.
Upwards of 37,000 square feet, in a building that measures around 96,000 square feet, were left inoperable by the fire and explosion.
According to city documents, that 37,000 square feet housed four preventive maintenance inspection bays, half a dozen running repair bays, two heavy repair bays, and two brake bays, along with shared work and heavy equipment storage spaces.
December 16, 2025
By Garry Boulard
