On Sunday evening, parents received notifications from several school boards, including the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) and the Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB), informing them that school buses would not be operating on Monday. This decision followed an announcement by Lion that the electric school buses, which had been temporarily removed from service after a bus fire incident in Montreal, would gradually resume service in Quebec on Monday.
Due to safety concerns arising from the bus fire incident, the affected school buses were taken out of service for inspection. LBPSB officials stated in a news release on Sunday that ongoing safety inspections would require parents of students on affected bus routes to arrange alternative transportation. Meanwhile, EMSB clarified that while their diesel buses would run as usual, transportation would not be available for students who typically use electric buses.
First Student, the parent company of Transco, the bus owner involved in the fire incident, reported identifying a “wiring issue” and promptly notified Lion and Transport Canada. The Quebec Education Ministry halted the service of 1,200 Lion school buses on Thursday due to a potential “defect” that could be linked to the fire incident.
Despite the bus driver successfully evacuating all five children on board before the fire erupted, no injuries were reported. Lion later announced on Friday that their plan to reintroduce the buses to service had been approved by the province’s automobile insurance board, with the backing of Transport Canada. Lion emphasized ongoing inspections and technical analysis in collaboration with Transport Canada to determine the cause of the incident.
Montreal firefighters managed to extinguish the flames engulfing the school bus, with no involvement of the electric battery or propulsion system, as confirmed by Lion in a subsequent news release. The Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) assured that Lion had established a secure process for the buses’ return to service, emphasizing the responsibility of operators and owners to maintain the vehicles in good working condition at all times.
Throughout the weekend, inspectors conducted thorough examinations of all Lion electric buses in Quebec. Although the Montreal bus fire marked the third electric school bus fire involving Lion since November, there were no reported injuries in any of the incidents. Transport Canada continues its investigation to determine the root cause of the fires, as the extent of fire damage has made it challenging to pinpoint the exact reason.
