Mumbai: It’s official, grease behind bus fires

Days after two KingLong buses caught minor fires, yet another BEST bus met the same fate near Vashi toll plaza on Thursday afternoon. No passengers were hurt in the accidental fire, which was a close recap of the earlier two fires, which occurred within a span of two hours on Tuesday night.

In the Thursday’s incident, the AC KingLong bus had just left the Vashi toll plaza around 1.15PM and was moving towards Kalamboli when the incident took place. Operating on route number AS 503, the bus runs between Wadala and Kalamboli.

Stating that the bus was immediately sent to the Deonar bus depot for an inspection, NA Walawalkar, BEST chief spokesperson, said, “Passengers onboard were evacuated safely and allowed to board another bus on the same route to help them continue their journey.”

According to the BEST officials, the cause of the fire was found to be the same as before: grease or oil from the hub — on which wheels are placed caught fire between the brake drum and liner.

This caused a substantial quantity of smoke to rush out from the wheels, creating the impression that internal wheels are on caught fire, officials said. Rubbishing reports in a section of the media, which pinned the blame about Tuesday’s accidents on jammed brakes and burnt wires, an official said, “Melted grease was burning between the brake drum and liner. We are ensuring that any possibility of a breakdown or defect in these premier buses is minimised.”

Confirming DNA’s report about the melted grease being behind the Tuesday fires, Om Prakash Gupta, BEST general manager, said the three incidents in the past two days have prompted him to order “inspection of brake-liners in all KingLong buses in our fleet as part of preventive measure”.