BMTC technical team report says power surge in bus caused fire on MG Road

BENGALURU: For the first time, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has been able to nail the cause of a fire which broke out in a moving bus in in the city recently.

Last week, a BMTC bus caught fire and was completely gutted near Anil Kumble Circle on MG Road, but the cause of the fire was not immediately known. According to the bus driver and conductor, fire was first seen in the engine compartment and the 30 passengers on board escaped unhurt.

Now, the BMTC technical team has been able to establish the cause of the fire. A BMTC technical officer said that as per the findings, the fire was caused by a power surge from the battery which led to a short circuit. This is the first time a fire has occurred due to power overload leading to a fire. Now, the BMTC plans to check all its buses for any such fault.

The report also mentions that there was no other possible cause for the fire, such as damage to the wiring or any other heat source. The report says that the isolation part, (which is used to protect against high voltages or currents caused by line surges or ground loops) did not work when there was a power surge.

The technical team is still investigating the incident and has suggested checking whether the isolation part is working properly on the other BMTC buses.