B.C. Transit has taken its No. 25 bus out of service for maintenance and replaced it after it dumped fuel in the neighbouring cities of Esquimalt and Victoria this morning and created a mystery for police and city crews.
B.C. Transit spokeswoman Meribeth Burton confirms the No. 25 bus, which travels from Reynolds Secondary School in Victoria to the Juan de Fuca recreation centre — known as the Western Exchange — dumped fuel along the 600-block of Yates Street to Government Street and again along Esquimalt Road at Admirals Road at about 7:25 a.m. today.
“We have a problem with maintenance because of what’s happened here with the job action,” Burton said this morning.
The bus driver was unaware of the fuel spill until alerted by passengers, Burton said. The driver pulled the bus over at Admirals Walk mall which contains Thrifty Foods. The bus was replaced within minutes, Burton said.
Earlier this morning, Victoria public works crews didn’t believe the two spills could be connected, according to spokeswoman Michelle Harris, just before 10 a.m. “They feel it’s unrelated to what happened in Esquimalt. They’ve driven the route and it doesn’t trail along.”
Unaware of the source of the fuel dumps, Victoria police were warning drivers this morning to be cautious in the area at Esquimalt and Admirmals roads and in the city at Yates and Douglas streets as fuel spills were being found around the two cities.
“We’re asking drivers to be quite cautious,” said Victoria police spokesman Bowen Osoko.
Fuel-absorbing material has been used to soak up the fuel before being swept away by city work crews in the neighbouring municipalities.
B.C. Transit is inspecting the bus to determine whether the leak is in the fuel pump or the fuel pump line but say such problems are common.
