A dramatic scene unfolded Wednesday morning in Los Angeles when an electric school bus suddenly caught fire beneath the 210 Freeway overpass in the San Fernando Valley. According to multiple reports, the fire ignited around 9:20 a.m. near 11460 W. Foothill Blvd.—fortunately, no children were on board at the time.
The bus driver, whose identity has not been released, was hospitalized for minor smoke inhalation, but no other injuries were reported. Firefighters from the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) managed to knock down the majority of the flames by 10:55 a.m., but that didn’t end their work.
The bus was powered by lithium-ion batteries, which are notoriously volatile and require hours of post-extinguishment monitoring to prevent reignition, according to NBC4 Los Angeles.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
But this isn’t just an isolated incident. It’s part of a broader, growing concern surrounding the rapid electrification of public transportation. In October 2024, the Federal Transit Administration issued a safety advisory regarding 483 electric transit buses after discovering safety defects.
That recall came on the heels of a nationwide EV push under the Biden administration, which championed green energy policies and massive subsidies to promote electric vehicle adoption in public fleets, including schools.
Now electric school busses are catching on fire under Los Angeles overpasses. https://t.co/x4X9wPqYEs pic.twitter.com/otspkDVcwZ
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 10, 2025
However, not everyone embraced the EV boom. Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has reversed course, rescinding Biden-era electric vehicle mandates through his “Unleashing American Energy” executive order. The move aimed to restore consumer choice and eliminate regulations that many critics argued pushed electric vehicles at the expense of reliability, cost, and safety.
Meanwhile, the automotive industry itself has shown signs of retreat. Earlier this year, General Motors quietly stepped back from its ambitious pledge to phase out gas-powered vehicles, while Chrysler recalled over 320,000 plug-in hybrid Jeeps due to high-voltage battery risks—many of which could ignite whether the car was parked or moving.
For now, the burned-out shell of an electric school bus beneath a freeway in Los Angeles serves as a sobering reminder of the high-stakes risks behind the push for rapid electrification.
