CSSDM elementary school

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Several pictures of a school bus engulfed in flames were posted to social media on Tuesday, and dismissed by many as fake. But it was indeed real.

The bus was carrying five CSSDM elementary school students to school Tuesday morning. It was traveling east on Jean Talon when the bus driver smelled smoke coming from the vents. He quickly pulled over at the corner of Victoria and evacuated the children. Nobody was injured. And the children were kept safe in a nearby building, accompanied by two police officers, until a new bus could be dispatched to pick them up.

The bus was a LionC bus operated by Transco.

While the cause of the fire is as yet unknown, speculation is that it might have been components in the heating system. But Montreal Fire Department Operations Chief Martin Guilbeault assures The Suburban that, although the bus was indeed electric, the battery was not the cause of the fire. Guilbeault said that the fire department was on the scene in under five minutes, and were able to douse the flames before they got anywhere near the battery.

Had that been the case, it would have run the risk of a thermal runaway, which is what happens when fire erupts in a battery spreading from cell to cell. When that happens it’s a longer process of dousing the battery to cool it down while fighting the fire.

As it was the fire was extinguished in less than an hour.

As far as the cause is concerned, in an email to The Suburban, Loïc Philibert, spokesperson for Lion Electric, said “an analysis is being conducted to determine the circumstances of the event. There is no further comment as to what may have happened.”

A statement from Alain Perron, spokesperson for the CSSDM, said “In accordance with our contracts, the carrier’s vehicles are subject to strict mechanical inspection requirements, and they are recent. We remain in close communication with the carrier to determine the cause of the incident. Student safety is and remains our top priority.” n