ABOUT 30 children were lucky to escape unhurt after their bus burst into flames last week.
The year 8 students from Westbourne Grammar in Truganina evacuated the vehicle after it started to fill with smoke on the Western Ring Road, near the Keilor Park Drive exit, about 4.20pm on October 23.
Four MFB trucks rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze in about 15 minutes.
The fire threw peak-hour traffic into chaos, causing delays until after 6.30pm.
Police closed one lane so a heavy haulage truck could remove the burnt-out wreckage. It is not known what caused the bus to ignite.
Westbourne Grammar principal Meg Hansen said the bus had been taking students back to school from a sports day.
She said the driver and staff had managed to clear all passengers before the fire took hold.
“The kids heard the explosion and the bus burst into flames, stopped immediately and everyone was evacuated.
“Nobody quite knew what was going on, and there was that time lag of about five or 10 seconds. It was a bit frightening at first, but it wasn’t life-threatening,” she said.
Several students had lost items of their uniform in the blaze.
Ms Hanson said she was “deeply impressed” at how students handled themselves.
“They were calm and sensible as they got off the bus, and no one panicked.”
Bus company Sita Coaches did not respond to the Weekly’s questions.
