Gloucestershire bus driver praised for keeping pupils safe in fire

Steve Butler has been driving coaches in the local area for many years

A bus driver who got school pupils to safety after their bus caught fire has been praised for his "swift actions".

Steve Butler was driving pupils home on the B4215 in Highleadon, Gloucestershire, when a fire broke out shortly before 16:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Applegates, which owns the coach, said an external investigator was looking into the cause of the blaze.

Director Ceri Taylor said: "We can't thank Mr Butler enough for the way he dealt with the situation."

'Can't thank him enough'

Mr Butler stopped the coach in a spot where students could get off the vehicle easily and directed them to the nearest safe place he could see.

"Drivers are trained for emergency procedures and we have received a lot of positive comments from parents praising the driver for his swift actions," Mr Taylor said.

"We are extremely grateful to him for getting a large amount of students off the coach without injury and we can't thank him enough for the way he dealt with the situation."

Mr Taylor added that Mr Butler wishes to thank everyone that has shown support for him.

Mr Butler did an "excellent job" when his bus caught fire, said Applegates

Reports from the fire service suggest the blaze started on the roof where the air conditioner and blower motors are located, Mr Taylor said.

"We suspect that a fault in that unit on the roof was the cause," he added.

Mr Taylor said that their vehicles are inspected every four weeks and this coach was last inspected on 23 December.

He also thanked Gloucestershire County Council for its "extremely swift actions" in assisting them and H&H Coaches who removed the children from the roadside.

The driver lost some of his personal belongings to the fire while he focused on getting the children to safety

A spokesperson for the council gave "huge thanks" to Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service for their efforts in responding to this incident, adding they were "relieved" no one had been injured.

They added: "A replacement bus was sent to the scene to collect the pupils and get them home safely following the incident, with staff from our education service attending to support the children and young people.

"We will be reviewing the incident to understand what happened."