BRTS bus catches fire at Sarthana, passengers unhurt

Surat: Passengers had a narrow escape when the BRTS bus they were travelling in suddenly caught fire near Sarthana on Saturday afternoon.
Bus (GJ-05-BH-2218) was going from Varachha to Kamrej when the driver Kiran Desai detected smoke coming out from the front portion of the bus when it was nearing the Surat Municipal Corporation’s (SMC) nature park and zoo and immediately stopped the bus at the BRTS station at Sarthana.
He tried to control the smoke with the fire extinguisher in the bus, but in vain. Fire spread rapidly from the engine side and all passengers were asked to de-board the bus immediately.
Fire officials from SMC’s fire and emergency department stated that the incident occurred at about 2.50 pm and when fire tenders reached the spot, the bus was engulfed in fire.
Chief Fire Officer, Basant Pareek said, “The passengers had a narrow escape thanks to the alertness of the driver. After he detected smoke coming out from the engine section, he immediately asked people to vacate the bus. Our teams managed to douse the fire within half an hour.”
Talking with TOI, assistant municipal commissioner (BRTS Cell), Kamlesh Naik said, “This is the second incident of fire in BRTS bus in the last two years.”
Naik added that the earlier BRTS bus caught fire in 2018 due to some technical problem in the alternator of the engine. “We had asked the company to change all the alternators. After Saturday’s incident, we will now ask the bus company to check all the buses thoroughly to curb any such fire incidents.”
Official sources said that there are about 165 BRTS buses and 575 city buses plying in the city on 102 km BRTS corridor, the largest dedicated corridor in the country. About 1.35 lakh commuters travel daily on BRTS buses. Apart from BRTS, on average, 1.40 lakh commuters travel on city buses daily in the city.