An electric London bus has burst into flames during the June heatwave, destroying it and two electric charging points and forcing a nearby Tube station to close, with smoke visible for miles around. The Telegraph has more.
Footage captured the double-decker on fire at a bus depot in Westbourne Park, west London, on Wednesday evening. The bus and two electric charging points were destroyed in the blaze.
Workers could be seen watching in shock as flames tore through the No. 23 bus, which goes between Westbourne Park and Aldwych. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
More than two dozen firemen tackled the fire at the depot on Great Western Road. It was extinguished in less than an hour.
In a statement, London Fire Brigade said: “The fire involved a double-decker electric bus, which was destroyed by the fire. Two electric vehicle charging points were also destroyed. There are no reports of any injuries.
“The Brigade was first called about the fire at 6.23pm, and crews had the incident under control by 7.11pm. Firefighters will remain on scene into the evening. Crews from North Kensington and Paddington fire stations attended the scene.”
Smoke could be seen for miles around, including from Lord’s cricket ground, where England women were taking on the West Indies in the T20 World Cup.
Nearby Westbourne Park Tube station shut after the blaze started. Trains did not stop there until it reopened at 6.56pm.
Worth reading in full.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to the Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
Only one?
I wonder if Khunt’s/TfL Eco have factored in electric vehicle fires into their “clean air” models?
What’s a bit of toxic smoke when you’re saving the planet?
Where is this London? It’s not the same one in NW Europe?
Just part & parcel of living in khan’s london in milllibands england.
You’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh!
ooh look there is a very everyday Brit standing by
ICE buses have far higher fire rates than eV buses.
True,but EV fires are much more difficult to deal with when they do happen.
I saw a statistic a few months ago about EVs relative to ICE (cars I think). The fire stats are that scaling for the mix of vehicles on the road, EVs are 2.5x more likely to catch fire.
That’s concerning if correct, EVs are fairly new in general so one would expect them to be less likely to catch fire.
Sweden (Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, MSB, 2022 data)
They dont spontaneously ignite while standing in a depo doing nothing!
How many EV buses are there compared to ICE numbers?
r-a-t-e
Sneaky, those Russians. Just look at the clouds of smoke billowing over the capital.
“It was extinguished in less than an hour.”
humm! Me thinks this wasn’t the traction battery then!
More like the chargers themselves catching fire and spreading to the bus
Bus stop
Surprise Surprise!
I suppose at least that the toxic smoke was blowing away from the firemen who were watching.
It is London. It was blowing over people whichever way the wind was.
Anymore flares please.
Oh, very good! (*ching ching*)
Showing you age there. I am old enough to remember when individual tickets were held on to a clip-board with spring clips, and then clicked with a hand punch to prevent them being re-used.
Yes – hence the name “clippy” for a bus conductor or conductress.
Ah, the future of travel that will save us all!