Two Valley Transit Authority mechanics were hospitalized for smoke inhalation Friday after trying to put out a fire on an electric bus that was in for repairs at a maintenance yard in North San Jose.
No passengers were on board at the time, and no one else appeared to have been injured, VTA officials said. The two mechanics were expected to recover quickly.
The mechanics first tried to contain the blaze with a fire extinguisher, according to a VTA spokesperson. When they saw that tactic failing, they pushed the bus out of the maintenance bay to prevent damage to the building.
Emergency responders soon arrived at the Cerone Bus Yard on Zanker Road near Highway 237 and brought the blaze under control.
The bus, which was damaged beyond repair, was one of VTA’s fleet of 10 electric Proterra buses. The rest of the fleet were taken out of service pending an investigation into the cause of the fire, VTA officials said.