The RATP announced on Friday April 29 the temporary withdrawal from circulation of 149 electric buses, after two fires which occurred in the capital in almost a month.
“With regard to the second fire on a recent electric bus of the same Bluebus 5SE series of the Bolloré brand in less than a month, the RATP took the decision, as a precautionary measure, in conjunction with Ile-de-France Mobilités, to temporarily withdraw from operation the 149 electric buses of this series”she said in a statement.
Earlier in the morning, an electric bus caught fire without causing any casualties on a Parisian avenue, said the RATP, according to which an investigation must determine the causes of the disaster. The fire broke out at 8:05 a.m. on this line 71 bus near the Bibliothèque-François-Mitterrand stop, in 13and arrondissement.
⛔️ Due to the intervention of firefighters on public roads, the François Mitterrand Library station is closed… https://t.co/oiJ7RMi7cW
“The bus driver immediately evacuated the passengers. There are no injuries “according to the RATP, which specifies that “the machinist was taken care of by his management”.
The fire gave off thick black smoke and a strong smell of burning plastic, noted an AFP journalist. Thirty firefighters and fifteen machines were dispatched to put out the fire, according to the Paris firefighters.
On April 4, a fire also broke out for an undetermined reason on board an electric bus as it was traveling on Boulevard Saint-Germain, in the 5and arrondissement. No one was injured but the vehicle was destroyed by fire.