MONTREAL - Many Lion electric school buses in Quebec remained out of service on Monday due to ongoing inspections and repairs. The company announced over the weekend that the 1,200 Lion buses operating in the province were pulled from service as a precaution after a bus caught fire in Montreal earlier in the week. Fortunately, no injuries were reported among the children and driver on board during the incident. This marked the third fire involving a Lion school bus in the past year.

Lion had initially planned to conduct inspections over the weekend to allow the buses to return to service by the start of the school week. However, on Monday, the company issued a statement indicating that it had implemented "additional inspection measures" for bus operators following a technical analysis conducted with Transport Canada. "As the inspections are carried out and the vehicles' compliance is confirmed, the buses will gradually and safely return to the road," Lion stated.

First Student, the parent company of Transco, which owns the bus that caught fire, reported that Lion's latest inspection bulletin details a multi-step process focused on electrical safety and system integrity. Maintenance teams are currently checking for wiring damage in the control panels of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. They are also replacing fuses and upgrading connectors based on Lion's recommendations. "To accelerate the inspection and repair process, we’ve mobilized additional technicians and engineers from across the company," First Student said. However, they noted that progress is contingent on the availability of replacement parts.

Andrew Jones, a school bus operator in the Montreal area, mentioned that Lion sent out its latest inspection bulletin just before midnight on Sunday. He reported that his mechanics identified some "areas of concern" related to wiring in some of his eight Lion buses during inspections on Friday and made necessary repairs. Jones expressed surprise at finding such damage on buses that are less than three years old, although he acknowledged that all vehicles have their own quirks.

Several school boards and service centers in the Montreal area announced on Sunday evening that their Lion buses would not be back in operation on Monday morning. In contrast, some school service centers outside Montreal reported that their Lion buses had completed inspections and would resume their routes.

Transport Canada is aware of three Lion buses that have caught fire in the past year, including the recent incident in Montreal. A bus caught fire in Ascot Corner, Quebec, last November, and another incident occurred in Huntsville, Ontario, in January. No injuries were reported in any of these cases, and the batteries were not involved.

Dean Campbell, the owner of the bus that caught fire in Huntsville, stated that he was never informed by Transport Canada about the investigation's findings in that case. Meanwhile, the government of Prince Edward Island confirmed that inspections conducted over the weekend showed that the Lion school buses in that province are safe. "Minor repairs were conducted, and the buses are back in service," a spokesperson for the Transportation Department said. There are 107 Lion school buses in P.E.I., with inspections completed on the 90 currently in service. The remaining buses will be inspected before returning to the road.