Green Boondoggle: Connecticut’s Electric Bus Fleet Still Out of Service After Summer Battery Inferno

A fleet of 11 electric buses belonging to CT Transit in Connecticut is still out of service following a massive battery fire that occurred in July, the state’s Department of Transportation says.

In July, a battery fire caused an electric bus to burst into flames in Hamden, Connecticut. Luckily, no one died in the inferno, although two transit workers and two firefighters were hospitalized as a result of the blaze, and a federal investigation was triggered.

In September, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a preliminary report detailing how the electric bus operated by CT Transit became engulfed in flames while parked at a maintenance facility, according to a report by NHPR.

“The battery electric buses remain out of service while the investigations are ongoing,” DOT spokesperson Josh Morgan said.

Both the NTSB and the Connecticut State Police are currently investigating the battery fire.

On July 20, a 2021 New Flyer Xcelsior battery electric bus was charged, but failed to power up the next day. So the bus was then placed out of service and stored in a maintenance facility to await inspection.

Then, on July 23 at around 3:39 a.m., the bus began emitting smoke from the rear compartment while parked inside the facility, the NTSB says. Upon seeing the smoke and hearing crackling and hissing, a CT Transit worker called the Hamden Fire Department, which did not see any flames after responding to the incident.

The bus was then reportedly pushed to a parking lot in order to isolate it “from other vehicles and structures,” resulting in two CT Transit employees being taken to a hospital and treated for smoke inhalation, NTSB officials say.

Then, at around 7:32 a.m. that same day, the Hamden Fire Department was again called to address the electric bus, which was once again emitting smoke — and this time fire was clearly visible.

The NTSB says “fire was observed coming from the rear of the vehicle. Fire fighters reportedly had trouble extinguishing the fire and decided to let the bus burn in the controlled environment.”

Given that battery fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish, the “fire remained active for several hours and fully consumed the vehicle,” the NTSB noted, adding that two days later, “smoke and an orange glow were observed emanating from the right rear wheel well of the burned bus,” and that the Hamden Fire Department was against called to the scene to extinguish “the hot spot.”

The cost of the electric bus that was destroyed in the battery fire was about $900,000, the Department of Transportation said.

Following the fire, CT Transit replaced its electric buses with traditional diesel models.

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