Bus has fiery end

PAKENHAM Upper Country Fire Authority was called to put out a fire on a burning bus in Pakenham Upper last Tuesday afternoon.
A Grenda’s bus travelling from Cockatoo caught fire from the rear just before the roundabout intersection of Pakenham and Gembrook roads.
Pakenham Upper CFA Captain Mick Bedford said his crew received the call at 3.30pm.
“The bus was off the road on the shoulder and was already 30 per cent alight by the time we arrived,” he said.
Capt Bedford said members of his crew heard the tyres on the rear of the bus burst before they arrived at the scene.
No passengers were on the bus and the driver escaped without injury.
Cockatoo CFA assisted Pakenham Upper CFA at the scene.
Part of the Pakenham Road to Cockatoo needed to be blocked off to fight the fire.
Capt Bedford said his crew was at the scene for about an hour and a half as they waited for a salvage crew to remove the bus. About a third of the bus was seriously damaged in the fire.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.