Is a commute on BEST buses safe? The July 31 incident where a bus driver struggled to put out a fire, which was engulfing the vehicle, with borrowed extinguishers, goes to show it is not. After the bus caught fire, the driver had to make several trips to nearby restaurants for extinguishers as the one installed in the vehicle was jammed. Ironically, the bus was inspected on July 10 and found fit to run, revealed a probe into the incident.

The incident had taken place near Maheshwari Udyan in Matunga, when the bus was ferrying passengers to Worli from Mulund. "As the bus was crossing Maheshwari Udyan, I noticed smoke coming out of the switch box and I opened it. The wires were on fire. I asked the conductor to get the fire extinguisher, but despite several attempts he failed to get it out as it was jammed," said driver Tatu Fernandes in a statement to the BEST's inquiry committee. His statement, a copy of the statement is with mid-day, was presented before the panel at a meeting on Friday.