MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (WUSA)-- Following yet another self-combustion of a Montgomery County Ride-On bus the county's executive Ike Leggett is ordering all of them be taken off the road immediately.The bus fire happened in Silver Spring shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett released the following statement:
As a result of today's Ride On bus fire involving a Champion bus, I
have directed the Department of General Services to take all remaining
Ride On Champion buses out of service -- permanently. We are very
fortunate that no one was injured in today's fire and there were no
passengers on the out-of-service bus.
Staff has been working
aggressively to find replacement buses for the Champions. A number of
the buses have already been replaced, and by the end of August, we will
have the remaining replacement buses in service.
Meanwhile, Ride
On staff will work closely with the Department of General Services to
address issues that may result from pulling the remaining Champions out
of service.
The bottom line is -- removing the buses from service
is the right thing to do to ensure the safety of the public and our bus
drivers. ---
Gino Renne, president of MCGEO, the union that represents the Ride-On bus drivers, says the county "bought about 50 of the Champion model buses in 2007."
He added that since 2009, about 13 of the buses, including the one Wednesday morning have self-combusted.
He said, "We are lucky" that no one was ever hurt.