Dozens of passengers were evacuated by ladder but no one was seriously injured when the fire broke out on the monorail's Blue Train near the Experience Music Project on Monday evening, filling the train with smoke.

Emergency workers evaluated about 40 people for respiratory problems. Nine, including a firefighter with an injured knee, were treated and released from Harborview Medical Center, Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzgerald said.

Streets were closed in the area east of the main part of the Seattle Center, where thousands were attending the Northwest Folklife Festival.

The fire, traced to a short in wiring to the electrical motor, was under control by Monday evening. The damaged train was brought back to a station at the Seattle Center.

Monorail spokesman Perry Cooper said he did not know the extent of damage on the Blue Train. Officials put no timetable on either train's return to service.

"We want to make sure we know what happened to the Blue Train before we put the Red Train back out," Cooper said.

The two trains run on a mile-long stretch of parallel overhead tracks between the Seattle Center, site of the World's Fair in 1962, and Westlake Center in the downtown retail core.

The tracks run through Experience Music Project, a rock 'n' roll museum known for its unusual design as well as its collection of music artifacts.

Witnesses reported a metallic grinding for about 3-5 seconds as the train exited the tunnel through the EMP and then a loud explosion. They said smoke then started pouring out from beneath the train. People on board the train started moving to the front of the train and that's when the flames broke out.

People tried to get close to the ground and away from the flames. Some passengers screamed and others remained calm as they moved to the front of the train to escape thick, billowing smoke .A short time later, monorail officials pulled up the second monorail train so people could evacuate to the red train. But one witness says the wind was blowing the smoke into the red train, so they abandoned that idea.

The fire department quickly arrived and brought the fire under control. They then began evacuating passengers via ladder trucks.

"It really didn't take the Fire Department that long to show up," said Marlene Schwartzmann of Tampa, Fla., "but as the inside of the monorail turned pitch black, it began feeling like an eternity."

Had those aboard become desperate, "the outcome could have been very different," Fitzpatrick said. "No one jumped, which is a good thing."