Three vehicles gutted in fire in one month

Manish Gajbhiye

Aurangabad

Incidents of running vehicles catching fire are on a rise. As many as three vehicles were reported in January. A running car caught fire on January 17. an auto-rickshaw on the January 18 and a private passenger bus on January 21. Fortunately, no losses of lives were reported in either of the incidents.

Earlier, Aurangabad Smart City Development Corporation LTD (ASCDCL) passenger bus caught fire near the Karmad area last September. The alert driver when noticed smoke coming from the bonnet stopped the bus along the road. He asked everyone to step off the bus. All the passengers got out and the entire bus was engulfed in the flames which can be seen from a distance. The fire brigade rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire but the bus had been reduced to ashes until then.

All buses checked

ASCDCL chief of operations Ram Paunikar said a team of engineers from the bus manufacturing company inspected the burnt bus. In their report, they had not mentioned the exact reasons for the outburst of the fire as the entire bus was reduced to ashes. However, it is possible that the fire would have been caused due to the sparking of the wires. Later, the team checked all the Smart City buses.

Stop the vehicle and inform the fire brigade

Chief fire brigade officer R K Sure said there were three incidents of vehicle burns reported in January so far. There are several reasons why vehicles catch fire. They are sparking, heating of the vehicles, and fuel leakage. In such cases, when the driver sees any smoke should stop the vehicle along the road and vacate the entire vehicle immediately. They should immediately inform the fire brigade in case of fire.

Maintenance of vehicles must

Works manager of a vehicle showroom in the city, Anil Gaikwad said the major reason for the fire is the sparking of the wires. The wire becomes very old and the rubber coating is removed from the wire. The fire is caused due to friction of the metal in the wires. The increase in the temperature of the vehicle and fuel leakage causes fire.

Running car catches fire on January 17

A moving car caught fire on Pisadevi Road on Tuesday evening. The driver and the passengers in the car saw smoke coming from the bonnet. The car was stopped along the road. The bonnet was caught in flames within no time. The fire brigade rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire.

Auto-rickshaw catches fire on Jan 18

An auto-rickshaw (MH20 EF 1142) going from Cidco Bus Stand towards Seven Hills suddenly caught fire opposite High Court off Jalna Road on January 18 at around 12 noon. The driver showing alertness stopped the rickshaw along the road. Within a few flames engulfed the entire rickshaw. The fire tender rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire but the rickshaw had been reduced to ashes until then. People gathered in large numbers to see the fire.

Private bus caught fire on Jan 21

A private passenger bus (MH20CG 0555) was reduced to ashes near Kendriya Vidyalaya on January 21 morning. The bus dropped all the 25 passengers at Mahavir Chowk and was going to fill the fuel when it caught fire from the rear side and spread quickly to the cabin. As there were no passengers on the bus no losses of lives were reported. The driver and the cleaner stopped the bus along the road and jumped out of the bus.