Watch | PMPML electric bus catches fire in Pune, probe launched

The incident occurred at Kalubai Chowk on the Pune-Solapur Road. While the commuters escaped unhurt, the vehicle suffered major damages on its rear side.

“The fire started in the compressor of the bus and then spread. Some seats and rear portion (of the bus) were damaged,” Ramesh Chavan, Chief Engineer, PMPML, said.

#PMPML electric bus catches fire in #Pune, probe launched https://t.co/sxXq0YqOLm pic.twitter.com/ut35wtz2EU

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On Thursday evening, a few two-wheeler riders noticed smoke coming out of the rear side of the bus and alerted the driver. The driver quickly moved the bus away from the road and brought it to a halt. Even as the passengers were getting down, a fire broke out in the rear side of the bus.

The conductor and driver tried to douse the fire with the firefighting equipment installed in the bus and alerted the fire brigade. After the fire brigade arrived, the blaze was doused.

“There was no loss of life or injury to any passenger. The fire spread after around 30-35 passengers got down from the vehicle but it was doused by the fire brigade,” Ashok Sable, head of the accident department, PMPML, said.

Chavan said the Central Institute of Road Transport will investigate the incident. “This was the first fire to an electric bus with PMPML. A few days back, one electric bus had reported a fire but that was a very minor one,” he added.

Chavan said PMPML roped in electric buses in 2018. “We have 490 electric buses. Compared to diesel and CNG buses, electric buses have led to major savings on the fuel front. Yesterday’s fire was the first since 2018 when the first electric bus was added to our fleet. Otherwise, electric buses have not given us major problems,” he said.