A Los Angeles Metro bus and a passenger vehicle collided Tuesday evening in Chatsworth, trapping victims inside the wreckage and triggering a multi-patient rescue response from city firefighters. The crash happened at 5:03 p.m. at 20900 West Nordhoff Street, sending numerous people to the scene with injuries as crews worked to free those pinned in the vehicles.
The collision was logged as LAFD Incident #1299 and LAPD Incident #3660, according to an alert posted by LAFD 🔥
on X. Firefighters responded to extricate trapped patients while simultaneously assessing every passenger aboard the bus for injuries, the agency said. The named contact for the incident is listed as Jennifer Middleton. That stretch of Nordhoff Street sits at its intersection with De Soto Avenue, according to
LAIT911
, placing the wreck along Nordhoff Street.
A Busy Transit Corridor With a Troubled History
The bus was part of LA Metro's Line 166 to Sun Valley. It's not the first time a Metro bus has been involved in a serious crash along this same stretch of road. In February 2024, an undercover LAPD vice vehicle collided with a Metro bus at Nordhoff Street and Canoga Avenue, injuring two Devonshire Division officers, as reported by Patch.
LAFD crews responded to the current crash, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The February crash also involved LAPD officers in Chatsworth. The crash site is in Chatsworth, LAIT911 notes.
How the Crash Fits Into Metro's Safety Record
Bus collisions of this severity remain relatively rare across the Metro system as a whole. Systemwide in 2024, LA Metro reported six public transit accidents involving its buses, which resulted in 18 hospitalizations and one fatality, according to data compiled by Rose, Klein & Marias LLP. The firm also provides statistics on public transit bus crashes. Metro also lists safety resources for riders, per the agency's safety resources.
Those cameras, along with witness accounts and physical evidence, are likely to factor into any investigation of Tuesday's crash as officials work to determine fault. Vehicle collisions across Los Angeles County and transit safety policies are part of the broader road-safety context.
What Injured Riders Should Know About Filing a Claim
Anyone hurt in Tuesday's collision who wants to pursue a claim against LA Metro faces a compressed timeline compared to a typical injury case. Under California Government Code Section 911.2, people seeking compensation from public transit agencies must file a formal government claim within six months of the incident, according to the Yaghmai Law Firm. That's far shorter than the standard two-year statute of limitations that applies to most personal injury cases in California under state civil procedure code.
Later details included six hospitalized people, two in critical condition, and two identified fatalities. Chatsworth has seen other recent emergency responses in the area, including a physical rescue operation LAFD crews handled at 20900 W Nordhoff Street that same day.
