PASSENGERS were evacuated from a Yellow Bus after a fire ignited in the engine compartment in Broadstone on Tuesday.
Two fire crews from Poole rushed to the scene in Lower Blandford Road following a 999 call at 10.04am on Tuesday, March 22.
Firefighters tackled the blaze and extinguished the fire by 10.34am which had broken out in the rear engine compartment.
The number 18 bus driver has been commended for his “swift actions” ensuring the safe evacuation of all passengers and alerting Yellow Buses to schedule the recovery vehicle.
Sean Griffiths, owner of Griffs Family Butchers, said: “The fire happened right outside the shop, at first we thought it was a really big white lorry but then we realised that it was smoke so I went out to help.”
'Strong smell and smoke blowing down the road'
Dorset Police said the force received a report at 10.04am and closed the road between Grange Road and York Road until the bus had been towed away.
Sharon Griffiths, assistant manager of Age UK in Broadstone said: “There was a lot of smoke and big flames so we shut the shop door in case there was any sort of big ‘bang’.
“There was a strong smell and smoke was blowing all down the road.”
David Squire, managing director of Yellow Buses, said: “We can confirm that a single deck bus operated by Bournemouth Transport Ltd (trading as Yellow Buses), suffered an engine compartment fire whilst operating service 18 this morning, it left Bournemouth Square at 0910 and arrived in Broadstone around 1000, when the driver was alerted when he spotted smoke and was also waved at by a pedestrian.
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“He moved the bus to a location where it was as far as practicably possible away from buildings, he evacuated the 6 passengers from the bus without injury, isolated it and called the fire service whilst also tackling the fire with the on-board fire extinguisher.
“We would like to thank the driver for his swift actions and to Dorset & Wiltshire Fire service for attending so promptly.”
The bus was towed to the Yellow Buses depot where a full investigation will be carried out into the cause of the fire.
READ MORE: LIVE: Yellow Bus catches fire in Broadstone high street
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