Bus Evacuated After Smoke Scare on Philip Goldson Highway

A bus load of commuters coming into the city this morning was forced to evacuate mid-journey after smoke was seen at the rear of the bus.  Contrary to the initial reports, the bus was not on fire.  Love News understands that a high-pressure hose from the turbo system had come undone and made contact with the exhaust.  Due to the intense heat, the rubber melted which created friction and smoke.  Our court reporter, Anita Nembhard, was on the bus with her child when they evacuated near the Divine Mercy Church on the Philip Goldson Highway.

Anita Nembhard, Bus Passenger: “Everything was going okay. By the time we reached by just a little bit after DK before we could pass Travellers all of a sudden I just saw the driver grab the brakes hard and a lot of people the bus was a packed bus. There was no space in-between but I wasn’t seeing what was happening around us, why he gabbed brakes so fast. Next minute I’m seeing smoke coming from by where the driver is and then people jumped up and started to say get out of the bus the bus is on fire and then a guy said open up the windows, go through the windows because we realized there’s no back entrance we can’t go through the back because that’s where the engine is and that’s where the fire was. I still didn’t see the fire but I saw smoke. We were trying not to panic and most people didn’t panic because it could have been worse. Nobody was pushing anybody and nobody was trampling on anybody so I can say for the most part we were as calm as we could be. But it was  frightening. We finally got off the bus. When I got off the bus I could see the driver and the conductor already but nobody was saying anything to us like we didn’t know what was happening. And the first thing of course is safety. By the time me and my daughter got to come out the next minute I’m hearing someone from the back saying “Run forward, run forward the bus is on fire.”  I don’t want to go see if the bus is on fire, I believe it.”

The matter was reported to the Transport Department, and the bus was subsequently subjected to a full assessment once the hose was replaced.  The bus, belonging to Central Transit, was taken to the terminal in Belize City where the motor vehicle inspector gave the green light to continue transporting passengers.  Love News spoke with the bus owner, Bernardo Bennett, who says it was just a mere hiccup.

Bernard Bennett, Bus Owner: “And what happened, the driver was alerted of a smoke smell that was coming from the engine area. The driver, Mr. Shane Pollard immediately stopped the bus exactly where it was, put it in park, went to the back to see what was the situation. He observed that the hose, the release hose that provided oil to the turbo was dislodged from the place and it was resting on the engine.  And it is a rubber hose. So what happened, the heat was melting the hose slowly and that smoke that was coming out due to the melting of the hose got into the seating to the bus.  And he immediately removed the hose from off the engine and wiped it and cleaned it off so that it can stop it from continuing to melt. He put the hose back to where basically it should be. He started back the engine, checked the engine good. No other problem was with the engine.  And he proceeded with the passengers who came off, picked them up back and finished his route to Belize City. I asked him to do further checks and everything was okay. No engine leak, oil, no fuel leak, no kind of electrical issue was identified with the bus. The bus is an AC bus and it runs basically every day between Ladyville, Lords Bank to Belize City.”

The incident occurred at around six thirty this morning with commuters primarily from Ladyville heading into Belize City.