London electric bus bursts into flames as heatwave lights vehicle on fire

A double-decker electric bus burst into flames at a west London depot on Wednesday evening.

It coincides with the hottest June day ever recorded in the capital.

The blaze broke out at Westbourne Park Garage on Great Western Road, completely destroying the No 23 bus that operates between Westbourne Park and Aldwych.

Two electric vehicle charging points were also reduced to wreckage by the fire.

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Depot workers looked on in disbelief as the flames consumed the vehicle.

The London Fire Brigade confirmed that no injuries resulted from the incident.

The cause of the fire is now under investigation.

First Bus London operates the Westbourne Park facility, which serves multiple routes across the capital.

More than 24 firefighters battled the blaze at the Great Western Road site.

Emergency services received the initial call at 6.23pm and brought the situation under control by 7.11pm.

The London Fire Brigade said: "Firefighters will remain on scene into the evening. Crews from North Kensington and Paddington fire stations attended the scene."

Plumes of smoke were visible across a wide area, reaching as far as Lord's cricket ground, where the England women's team were facing the West Indies in the T20 World Cup.

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The nearby Westbourne Park Tube station was forced to close after the fire broke out.

Services resumed stopping at the station from 6.56pm after a brief suspension.

This incident follows a pattern of electric bus fires that occurred in south London during January 2024.

A double-decker caught alight during morning rush hour in Wimbledon.

It prompted Transport for London to withdraw an entire fleet of electric vehicles from service as a precautionary measure.

The affected buses were operated by London General, a Go-Ahead London subsidiary, running on route 200.

That same month, another electric bus was destroyed by fire at a depot on Chelverton Road in Putney.

Investigators are now working to determine what sparked Wednesday's blaze at Westbourne Park, though no conclusions have been reached yet.

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