A passenger on the bus that burst into flames in Mosgiel Saturday morning has praised the driver's kind gesture after he helped evacuate people from the burning vehicle.
The fully occupied bus was successfully evacuated after the engine compartment caught fire at about 9.20am.
Mosgiel senior station officer Scott Lanauze said crews dispatched to respond to reports of a bus fire in Quarry Rd about 100m from the Southern Motorway.
When they arrived at the scene they found a well developed fire at the back of the bus.
A passenger, who asked to remain anonymous, said an alarm went off and the driver pulled over and helped evacuate all of the passengers.
She said she was sitting near the back of the bus where the engine was.
However, she only noticed smoke coming out of the air vents as she was evacuating the bus.
"It was kind of exciting to start with I guess because we didn't know what was going on. But when we realised it was getting worse and worse, it was a little scary."
She said when she went back on the bus pretty much everything from the back door to the back of the bus was completely charred and destroyed.
Her lunch and headphones had melted and were glued to the overheated shelf.
The bus driver was really good and even as he was going to hospital to be assessed he offered her his lunch as a replacement, she said.
Two high pressure hose reels were used to put the fire out and everyone was successfully evacuated off the bus.
Mr Lanauze said the bus driver had done a very good job of getting everyone off the fully occupied bus safely.
A police spokesman said police assisted Fenz by closing roads to vehicles.
State Highway 87 was closed between Gladstone Rd and Woodland Ave.
He said the fire was in the engine compartment of the bus.
