School students safely evacuated from school bus fire in Kiama CBD
In short:
School students have been safely evacuated after a school bus caught fire in Kiama.
The bus fire has closed parts of Kiama's CBD.
What's next?
Fire and Rescue NSW will allow the bus to cool before starting their investigation into how the bus fire started.
Thirty-three school students and a driver have been safely evacuated from a school bus that caught fire in the Kiama CBD on the New South Wales south coast.
Two fire trucks and eight fire fighters took 15 minutes to extinguish the blaze on Collins Street, which has closed traffic in the area.
Adam Dewberry from NSW Fire and Rescue said emergency services were called at 8:45am today.
"It had some school kids on it and they've been safely evacuated but now we are just dealing with a diesel spill from the fuel in the bus," he said.
"We're making sure we contain that, mop it up and absorb it to make sure it doesn't get into the water ways."
Emergency services were called to the bus on fire around 8:45am this morning. (Facebook: Anne Maree Bowden)
He said the bus was carrying 200 litres of diesel fuel and emergency crews would assess local drains to check for diesel contamination.
A HAZMAT truck from nearby Shellharbour has also been sent to the scene to treat the diesel spill.
Crews will remain at the site while waiting for a heavy tow to remove the bus.
Firefighters took 15 minutes to quickly extinguish the blaze on Collins Street. (Facebook: Anne Maree Bowden)
Investigations to follow
Superintendent Dewberry said the cause of the fire was still being investigated.
"It's still smouldering so we'll let it cool down more before moving into investigation and recovery.
"The information we get from the driver will be important as well as the observations of what our responding firefighters saw to get an idea of how it did start.
"The kids are safe, some would’ve been a bit excited and a bit put out but we’ll look after them as best as possible."
The bus has been destroyed and will be subject to an investigation. (Credit: FRNSW)
The students on board attend Kiama Public School and Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School.
Transport for NSW said paramedics attended but the students and driver were uninjured and did not require treatment.
Police believe the fire may have been caused by a mechanical failure.
A Transport NSW spokesperson said the department would work with the operator and emergency services to probe the cause of the fire, which had also been reported to the Office of Transport Safety Investigations.
Collins Street remains closed between Terralong Street and Minnamurra Street.