According to the director of the Intermunicipal Fire Authority for the East Angus region Dany Robitaille, the driver who was driving the bus smelled smoke emanating from the heater. So she parked the bus on the side of the road and was able to get out before the flames became so intense.
The fire was therefore not caused by the bus battery, confirms Mr. Robitaille. No one was injured during the incident.
“When we arrived, we found that the bus was completely engulfed in flames and that no one was inside. When we arrived, we put it out,” he says.
(Taken from Gabrielle Fontaine’s Facebook)
A first
The fire took on impressive proportions. For Mr. Robitaille and his team, this was their first fight against a fire involving an electric vehicle. “We took the time to follow our protocol carefully and we made sure that our stakeholders identified the risks. We took the opportunity to raise awareness. There was the scale of the flames, but the smoke was very toxic. We had to wear our respiratory equipment and make sure we worked with the wind at our backs,” he explains.
“The bus stopped under a power line. Due to the intensity of the fire, the wires were possibly damaged. Hydro-Sherbrooke will make the repairs on Wednesday,” he confirms.
As of Tuesday evening, Hydro-Sherbrooke did not report any outages on its territory.
Tow safely
What’s more, the tow truck that moved the burned vehicle to its impound must make sure to isolate the vehicle. “The batteries could thermally overheat and catch fire several hours later,” describes the director of the Fire Department.
In total, around fifteen firefighters intervened while the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility and the Sûreté du Québec worked to redirect traffic
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