The images are intense and the cloud of black smoke that emerges impressive.
A bus caught fire in the 13th arrondissement of Paris this Friday morning, mobilizing around thirty workers, according to the firefighters contacted by Le Parisien.
On the photos and videos taken by local residents, we see a charred carcass still burning around 8:30 am.
Firefighters said the blaze was being brought under control around 9 a.m.
The fire broke out at the François-Mitterrand metro station, at 121 Avenue de France at around 8:15 a.m.
RATP bus in flames avenue de France, Paris 13th, firefighters are struggling to extinguish the fire.
pic.twitter.com/aGHoEAHWjY
— Benoît Lallement (@benlallement) April 29, 2022
A RATP bus caught fire on Avenue de France, Paris 13th, near the François-Mitterrand metro.
Hyper impressive pic.twitter.com/xFoPSqk0rb
— Benoît Lallement (@benlallement) April 29, 2022
According to the mayor of the borough, Jérôme Coumet, the fire caused no casualties despite the intensity of the flames, “the driver was able to extract himself”, he specifies.
The causes of the incident are not yet known, they will be the subject of an investigation according to the firefighters.
Accidental fire of a bus
avenue de France #paris13
No victim,
the driver was able to extract himself pic.twitter.com/m8JLyoShZU
— Jérôme Coumet (@jerome_coumet) April 29, 2022
From now on, the rescuers on site will remain vigilant to "see if there is no risk of the fire spreading to the adjacent building", but the bus was isolated enough so that the building was not directly hit by the flames, they say.
Precedents
This is not the first time a bus has caught fire in the area.
On April 4, it was on Boulevard Saint-Germain, in the fifth arrondissement of the capital, that a fire had completely charred the RATP vehicle.
Again, the incident did not cause any injuries.
The driver had managed to get out before it was too late.
Witnesses to the fire reported seeing showers of sparks escaping from the batteries installed on the roof of the 100% electric bus.
At the end of March, another RATP bus had also been reduced to ashes in Pantin, without the causes of the accident.