25 children flee as school bus completely destroyed by fire

Two engines from Bridlington Fire Station were called to Wold Newton Road after the fire broke out at around 4.10pm on Tuesday.

The East Yorkshire Motor Services bus was transporting Driffield School pupils between Wold Newton and Burton Fleming when the bus "began smoking".

Driffield School and Sixth form student, Ben Coleman, said up to 25 children were on the bus at the time of the incident.

He said: "The bus started smoking at 4:12pm from the rear seats and someone had to tell the driver to stop as the bus filled with smoke.

"The doors had to be opened manually. Within 15 minutes all four tyres had burst and the bus was engulfed in flames. Two fire engines came at 4:40pm."

Humberside Fire and Rescue confirmed all passengers were evacuated safely from the vehicle, and another bus was tasked with bringing the children home.

EYMS chief executive Peter Shipp said the bus driver carried out all the necessary evacuation procedures.

“We spoke to the driver - he says there were between 20 and 25 pupils on the bus.

“As soon as someone came to the front of the bus and said he smelt smoke, the driver checked his mirror to see if he could see anything .

“He could see smoke coming from the rear side so he immediately stopped at this point.

“I have no reason to disbelieve him. The young people began getting off the bus in a very orderly fashion.

“He assures us there was no panic. That’s what he told us.”

Mr Shipp said the incident was “extremely rare”.

“The last time I saw something come anywhere close to that was in the early 1980s.

“What was the cause of this? I have no idea. The fire brigade will conduct an investigation and the DVSA will no doubt want to check the vehicle.

“We have very regular, thorough checks. Every four weeks, our buses are inspected. They have a complete, full annual inspection.”

Mr Shipp confirmed the bus’ last successful annual inspection took place four to five weeks ago, at the end of August.