A 57-year-old Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) bus driver escaped without injury after an out-of-service bus he was operating burst into flames along Trinidad’s Priority Bus Route near the Mt Lambert traffic lights on Wednesday afternoon, leaving only a gutted vehicle and disrupted local traffic in its wake.
Speaking after the incident, driver Ricky Estrada, a six-year veteran of the PTSC based in Arima, expressed overwhelming gratitude for his safety. “GOD is good. I am happy to be alive,” he told reporters, noting that the empty bus was en route to the Chaguanas depot when the fire ignited at the rear of the vehicle around 1:15 p.m.
Estrada immediately grabbed the bus’s on-board fire extinguisher in an attempt to put out the blaze before the equipment ran out of agent. With the fire spreading rapidly, he evacuated the vehicle safely, then stood by a nearby lamppost to await emergency responders. Local police were first on scene to redirect traffic and dispatch a call to the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service, which arrived shortly after to bring the fire under control.
When reporters from the Express arrived on scene at approximately 1:30 p.m., the bus was still actively burning. Photographs from the scene show extensive damage: the upper half and entire rear section of the bus were destroyed, leaving behind a pile of smoldering debris, charred metal and shattered glass. A nearby lamppost was blackened by fire damage, and overhead utility wires were singed, with several hanging loosely after the heat damaged their insulation.
The unexpected blaze sparked confusion among local residents, many of whom rushed out of their homes in the nearby Mt Hope and Mt Lambert communities after seeing smoke. Some mistakenly believed the neighboring Bermudez biscuit factory was on fire, while others assumed the smoke came from neighbors burning yard waste. Passing motorists also slowed to investigate the incident, adding to localized traffic disruption.
To ease congestion while emergency crews worked, traffic along the Priority Bus Route was rerouted through the Carib Brewery vicinity in Champs Fleurs onto the Eastern Main Road before rejoining the PBR further along the route. Maxi-taxi drivers and waiting passengers gathered nearby, speculating on whether anyone had been trapped on the burning bus.
A three-person fire crew led by Fire Sub Officer Crayson Balkaran, with officers Nesbitt and Forde, responded to the call from the Fire Service’s Port of Spain headquarters on Wrightson Road, receiving the alert around 1:41 p.m. The team confirmed no passengers were on board, a outcome that responding personnel called a major relief.
Following the incident, Estrada went to Mt Hope Hospital for a routine check-up after experiencing mild trauma from the event. He credits mandatory occupational health and safety training for helping him stay calm during the emergency. “We are given health and safety training. So I had the presence of mind to reach for the extinguisher. I am glad it was diesel fuel because it could have gotten far worse,” he explained. “Sometimes when we move buses to the depot, we have a mechanic or another employee on board. I’m so thankful no one else was here that day. It could have been detrimental.”
Estrada’s family shared his relief after learning he had escaped unhurt. “My wife said, ‘Thank God, nothing serious happened to you.’ My two children are happy nothing bad happened to their daddy,” he said. A man of faith, he noted that his religious community had supported him through the scare: “I am a member of Arima ‘Oracle of Praise’ or Arima Open Bible Church. I am covered under the blood. Jesus Christ is my protector.”
Estrada did note one point of concern, saying that the Fire Service “took a little long to respond” and could have arrived sooner to limit damage to the bus.
In an official statement released Wednesday, PTSC confirmed the details of the incident, noting that the bus was out of service at the time with no passengers on board. PTSC General Manager Patrick Gomez told reporters Wednesday that the corporation was “happy no one was on the bus. No one was injured. The driver was not injured.” The gutted bus has been moved to the PTSC’s Port of Spain depot, and the company’s engineering team is leading an investigation into the cause of the fire, working alongside relevant local authorities to identify what sparked the blaze.
“PTSC remains committed to the safety of its employees, passengers and the general public,” the corporation’s release added.