CT Electric Buses Removed From Service After Fire

HAMDEN, CT — CTtransit has temporarily pulled its electric bus fleet after one of them burst into flames in Hamden Saturday.

Connecticut has a fleet of 12 electric buses with plans to buy another 50 in the near future, according to Hearst CT.

The bus that caught fire was parked outside a bus maintenance facility Saturday morning on State Street. Two CTtransit employees were transported to the hospital to treat smoke inhalation. Two Hamden firefighters were also transported to the hospital for heat exhaustion treatment.

Electric vehicle fires often make headlines because they are typically more difficult to extinguish than internal combustion vehicle fires. First responders are at risk of electric shock and batteries can reignite even after being extinguished, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

However, electric vehicle fires are proportionally less common than internal combustion vehicle fires, according to a study by AutoinsuranceEZ. The study looked at care fire data from the National Transportation Safety Board and vehicle sale data

Electric vehicles had about 25 fires per 100,000 sales, while internal combustion vehicles had more than 1,500 fires per 100,000 sales, according to the study. Hybrid vehicles came in first with nearly 3,500 fires per 100,000 vehicle sales.

State officials recently celebrated the signing of the state Clean Air Act, which aims to curtail fossil fuel emissions. One of the provisions is to ban the state from purchasing diesel-powered buses after Jan. 1, 2024. The law also includes incentives to transition school buses to zero-emission vehicles.

The state Department of Transportation has about 800 buses that will eventually be replaced with electric models, Commissioner Joseph Giulietti said at a Friday news conference celebrating the Clean Air Act.

“They are quieter, they emit no emissions, and they last longer,” he said of electric buses.