By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON -The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Friday it will investigate a fire that destroyed an electric transit bus in Hamden, Connecticut on July 23.
The NTSB probe is in parallel to the Connecticut State Police fire origin and cause investigation that is ongoing.
CTtransit – the state’s bus system – decided to remove its fleet of 12 New Flyer XE40 battery-electric buses from use until a full investigation is completed, the state transportation department said Friday.
Canadian bus manufacturer NFI Group, the parent company of New Flyer, said Friday it is working with state agencies “to investigate this highly unusual event and have deployed our field service team to the area.”
The company added its “buses are engineered, manufactured, innovated, and rigorously tested to be among the safest vehicles in North America, and the most reliable form of public transit in communities.”
The Hamden Fire Department posted a photo of the fire on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=369417185339342&set=a.171051821842547 and said two CT Transit workers were transported as a precaution from exposure to the smoke and one firefighter was transported for heat exhaustion.
New Flyer said it has delivered over 500 battery-electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles that have completed over 13 million miles of service.
NTSB has previously investigated other lithium ion battery fires.
Last year, the NTSB urged automakers to improve electric vehicle emergency response guides that lack clear information and hamper efforts to extinguish lithium-ion battery fires. The Hamden Fire Department noted “lithium ion battery fires are difficult to extinguish due to the thermal chemical process that produces great heat and continually reignites.”
Congress approved $5 billion in 2021 for zero-emission and low-emission buses as part of a $1 trillion infrastructure law.
(Reporting by David Shepardson;Editing by Chris Reese and Aurora Ellis)