Arson on bus in service - Leeds

[JGurney]

According to this ITV report, a double decker was destroyed after being set on fire apparently by two passengers while in service on route 42 passing through Harehills, Leeds, yesterday.
The operator is not named and I am not familiar with Leeds services.

https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2023-11-23/double-decker-bus-engulfed-by-fire

A double decker bus was destroyed in an arson attack on a residential street.

Videos posted on social media showed the top deck of the number 42 service engulfed in flames at the junction of Harehills Lane and Strathmore Drive, in Harehills, Leeds, at 1.39pm on Wednesday.

A nearby car was also damaged.

Two fire crews from Killingbeck fire station were sent to the scene and the blaze was brought under control.

Harehills bus fire
No-one is thought to have been injured in the fire.
Credit: Facebook
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: "Passengers and the driver had left the bus safely and no-one was injured.

"Two youths were seen acting suspiciously and got off the bus just before the fire was discovered. The incident is being treated as arson.

"Officers from the local neighbourhood policing team have been made aware of the incident and are carrying out increased patrols of the area to reassure residents."

The force appealed for witnesses to come forward.

 

[hexagon789]

According to this ITV report, a double decker was destroyed after being set on fire apparently by two passengers while in service on route 42 passing through Harehills, Leeds, yesterday.
The operator is not named and I am not familiar with Leeds services.

https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2023-11-23/double-decker-bus-engulfed-by-fire

The 42 is a First Leeds route.

 

[dodecahedron67]

It was 35289 SL67 VXT, an integral streetdeck.

 

[Trainguy34]

By the looks of Bus Times.org, it was at around 1.33pm, not 1.39!

 

[Mwanesh]

Everytime I have kids upstairs when they get off I always check.

 

[Leeds1970]

It's the second one in Leeds. The other was in Middleton, again arson. What is very frightening is the speed at which the fire burned and the thick (toxic?) black smoke bellowing out. I'm very much hoping that they are isolated incidents and don't become a 'thing'.

 

[Bantamzen]

It's the second one in Leeds. The other was in Middleton, again arson. What is very frightening is the speed at which the fire burned and the thick (toxic?) black smoke bellowing out. I'm very much hoping that they are isolated incidents and don't become a 'thing'.

There was also a First bus that went up in flames in Bradford not too long ago. I am now concerned this might now be that "thing".

 

[Towers]

It's the second one in Leeds. The other was in Middleton, again arson. What is very frightening is the speed at which the fire burned and the thick (toxic?) black smoke bellowing out. I'm very much hoping that they are isolated incidents and don't become a 'thing'.

Unfortunately matters are probably not helped by the masses of fibreglass involved in bus construction nowadays, in the quest for making vehicles as lightweight as possible.

It’s really very difficult to comprehend what on earth is going on in the disturbed mind of someone who thinks that setting alight to a bus full of people is in any way acceptable; hopefully wherever the CCTV is recorded in these vehicles survived sufficiently for the culprits to be identified.

 

[JD2168]

There was also a First bus that went up in flames in Bradford not too long ago. I am now concerned this might now be that "thing".

BBC News reported Yesterday evening that a 15 year old boy was arrested on suspicion of Arson for the Bradford bus.

Boy, 15, arrested over Bradford city centre bus blaze

The fire on the double-decker bus happened on Broadway in Bradford on 9 October.

www.bbc.com

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after a fire on a bus in Bradford city centre last month.

Firefighters were called to Broadway on 9 October after flames and plumes of smoke were seen coming from the top deck of the bus run by operator First.

The boy was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage but had since been released on conditional bail, West Yorkshire Police said.

Anyone with information about what happened was asked to get in touch.

A force spokesperson said officers were continuing to carry out inquiries into the fire and urged witnesses to contact police or Crimestoppers.

According to First, the double-decker was the 607 service from Thornton.

The bus had reached its last stop before the blaze started on its upper deck, the firm said.

No passengers were on the bus when the fire broke out, it added.

 

[LucyP]

The 42 is a Leeds City (First Bus) operation. The arson happened in one of the worst parts of the city. That probably says it all.

 

[gledhill56]

The 42 is a Leeds City (First Bus) operation. The arson happened in one of the worst parts of the city. That probably says it all.

That’s a very judgmental view. Are you assuming everyone is the same?

 

[greyman42]

That’s a very judgmental view. Are you assuming everyone is the same?

These things happen more in areas of deprivation.

 

[gledhill56]

These things happen more in areas of deprivation.

Doesn’t give the right to tar everyone with the same brush though does it

 

[WAB]

Plenty of scorch marks and general damage at the back of the top deck of many Leeds City deckers.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I'm very much hoping that they are isolated incidents and don't become a 'thing'.

Doesn’t look like it. Even if it wasn’t a thing before, people read the news and decide to copy it.

I’m not surprised that the buses are getting torched in places like Harehills and Middleton in Leeds, and Girlington in Bradford. Unpleasant areas with some deeply unpleasant residents.

 

[DunsBus]

Buses can get torched even in the more salubrious parts of town. Lothian lost an Olympian at Duddingston back in 1987 after schoolkids set it alight and there was also the fire in Oxgangs in 2013 that wrote off one of the 2011 Volvo B9s. A ned will set fire to a bus regardless of location.

 

[GusB]

There's not much more to be said on this subject. If there are any updates in future, please let us know via the report function and we'll go from there.

Thanks, everyone.