Oxfordshire bus fire risked causing 'environmental damage'

A Thames Travel X40 service caught fire in Nuneham Courtenay at around 1pm. 

All passengers were evacuated safely and the driver called the fire service. 

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Crews from Abingdon Fire Station and Slade Park Fire Station attended the incident and used two high pressure hose reels to bring the blaze under control. 

Picture shows the extent of the fire on the Thames Travel bus (Image: Jessica Aparo)

Incident Commander Christian Orr said "This was a difficult incident to deal with, because as well as a severe fire, the diesel tank of the bus had split, so we needed to stop large quantities of diesel from entering the drains and causing possible environmental damage.

"The driver did an excellent job of ensuring all passengers had been evacuated from the bus, and the road was reopened as soon as it was safe to do so."

A spokesperson for Thames Travel said: “We can confirm one of our vehicles on our X40 service was involved in a thermal incident in Nuneham Courtenay on Saturday.

“A small number of passengers were on-board at the time and were evacuated safety along with our driver.

"There were no injuries and the passengers were transferred onto our next service.

"Our driver contacted the emergency services who attended the scene and we have now opened an internal investigation into the cause of the incident.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused and would like to reassure passengers that we have an excellent safety record, all our vehicles undergo regular, extensive checks and maintenance and incidents of this nature are extremely rare.”