TTC bus breaks down on Toronto highway in cloud of fire-suppression spray

A disabled bus was stranded on a TTC highway this week in a cloud of what appears to be smoke. Despite the apparent blaze, the TTC explains that appearances are not always what they seem, and no fire actually took place on the bus.

A video shared with blogTO shows a stranded TTC bus on the shoulder of Highway 409 near the Martin Grove Road exit, engulfed in a foggy cloud that appears — at least to the untrained eye — as smoke from a fire within the vehicle.

When reached for comment, the TTC's Stuart Green offered up a snarky explanation, telling blogTO that "Although I have every expectation this will be labelled a 'wild video,' the incident was decidedly less dramatic."

Sorry to disappoint you, Stu, but this one doesn't quite earn the "wild" treatment. However, I can assure you that you won't have to wait long for that headline style to reappear, given the TTC's recent track record.

Green explains, "This bus was out of service and returning to the garage when the fire suppression system deployed for an unknown reason."

Though the cloud of fog appears smoke-like, Green states, "It's not smoke we're seeing, but the emissions from the suppression system."

"Although we're told 'where there's smoke, there's fire,' in this case, neither was present. We're looking into what might have caused it to deploy, but we know there wasn't a fire…or smoke."

TTC bus' fire impression system goes off at random leaving it stranded on highway🫣 📹 - Kenil Kabariya #Toronto #TTC pic.twitter.com/tVqKt1w9HM

— blogTO (@blogTO) September 8, 2023

A similar incident occurred in 2022, when a TTC 29 Dufferin bus' fire suppression system deployed in error in what was initially believed to be a fire. It was an inconvenience that didn't even seem to surprise passengers accustomed to the notoriously unpleasant bus route.

In more severe cases, fires have indeed broken out on TTC buses, like an incident that occurred at Vaughan and St. Clair in 2019.