Fire Suppression System Introduced at JUTC

A Fire Suppression System, which automatically extinguishes a fire within the engine of a bus, has been introduced at the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC).

The system, which does not allow fires to be reignited after being smothered, is aimed at protecting passengers, the drivers, and the mechanical interior of the buses.

It was installed and demonstrated by the contractors from Industrial Fire and Rescue Equipment, during the pilot launch at the JUTC’s Ashenheim Road depot in Kingston, on Tuesday (March 7).

Minister of Transport and Mining, Hon. Audley Shaw, welcomed the facility’s introduction, noting that the plan is to have it installed “on all our buses for the safety of the [unit] and, more importantly, the safety of our passengers.”

He added that this aligns with the Ministry’s effort to retool the JUTC, by introducing more buses.

“Seventy new buses will be joining our fleet this year; 45 Diesel, five electric and 20 liquefied natural gas. When the new buses come, the fleet will get close to 300 and, next year, we’re planning to add between 100 and 150 more buses,” he disclosed.

The Minister said the first set of buses will leave the People’s Republic of China at the end of March.

Meanwhile, JUTC Managing Director, Paul Abrahams, said drivers will be engaged in a sensitisation exercise with the company’s Fire Prevention Team, “once we do the procedure for the procurement of these fire prevention systems.”

“There are some hotspots inside the engine that we target, because we have an idea where fires do start in the engine compartment,” he said.

For his part, Field Engineer from Industrial Fire and Rescue Equipment, Reiner Romero, said once the system is activated, the liquid chemical used to extinguish the fire will be channelled through a pipeline in the engine.

“There will be no direct contact between the passengers and the fire suppression system,” he informed