Transport chiefs probe latest bus fire

PREVIOUS FIRE: A bus destroyed by fire in Munster. Picture: Richard Polden Source: PerthNow

PREVIOUS FIRE: A gas-powered bus caught fire in February. Picture: Raymond Porteous Source: PerthNow

ANOTHER Public Transport Authority gas bus has caught fire - this time at a Welshpool depot.

Three fire crews, two from Welshpool and one from Belmont, were called at 9.51pm and had the fire under control within 10 minutes.

A Department of Fire and Emergency Services spokesman said the fire was not considered suspicious, but a cause had not yet been determined.

A Public Transport Authority spokeswoman said an "intensive investigation'' had commenced into the cause of the fire.

"The bus was not in service and there were no passengers or staff on the bus at the time,'' she said.

Last month bus drivers aired their safety fears over gas-fuelled buses after at least 13 fires were recorded over the past five years.The fires related to the Mercedes-Benz OC500 LE model, which is fuelled by compressed natural gas. In four of the fires, the buses were destroyed.On February 10, after a gas-powered bus caught fire and passengers abandoned the service,  Transport Minister Troy Buswell said there were no plans to suspend the fleet's 500 gas buses.

 

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Carles loses latest round in Buswell brawl

Adele Carles has been told to keep quiet about her case against Troy Buswell. Source: The Sunday Times

Troy Buswell will be spared the embarrassment of a defamation trial in the week of the election. Source: PerthNow

WEST Australian MP Adele Carles has been warned by a judge to keep quiet about her legal battle with her ex-lover and State Treasurer Troy Buswell or face a contempt of court charge.

The two MPs will also be spared the embarrassment of their bitter personal dispute being aired in court in the week of the March 9 state election.

The former Greens MP and Mr Buswell are engaged in a defamation dispute over claims Ms Carles made late last year about the Treasurer's behaviour during their relationship.

The first main court hearing had been scheduled for just three days before the poll, but lawyers for Mr Buswell applied to have the date put back.

Mr Buswell had also applied to have the details of his claim against Ms Carles kept confidential, a move that Ms Carles had resisted.

In the Supreme Court today, Justice Rene Le Miere said Ms Carles, the Independent MP for Fremantle, was under a "substantive obligation'' not to make public Mr Buswell's statement of claim and could be in contempt of court if she did so.

Through her lawyers, Ms Carles said she would keep the details of the case under wraps as it proceeded.

In another blow, she was also ordered to pay Mr Buswell's costs, amounting to $2882.

Justice Le Miere said the matter would next be heard after March 21, not on March 6 as had been scheduled.

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