Local News
The owner of the party bus company Funk Bus reportedly said the bus had an engine fire. All of the passengers were safely evacuated.
No one was injured after a tour bus in Cape Cod was completely engulfed in flames Saturday afternoon, fire crews said.
The driver of the bus was able to evacuate all of the passengers before firefighters arrived around noon on Saturday, the Wellfleet Fire Department said. Crews found a bus “fully engulfed in flames, with fire burning in the brush approaching a nearby home.”
Firefighters knocked the fire out, the department said, and prevented it from spreading to the home. One person was evaluated but not transported to the hospital, and no one else reported any injuries.
According to images shared by the department, the bus was part of Funk Bus’s fleet, a Cape Cod party bus company. The owner confirmed to the Cape Cod Times that the bus had an engine fire. Owner Raphael Richter praised the driver’s efforts to evacuate passengers.
“We will work to determine the root cause as our Funk Bus fleet is regularly inspected and maintained to ensure its safe operation. We are undertaking a special review of our Funk buses to ensure they meet our safety standards,” Richter told the Times. He added the bus is a total loss.
“The cause of the fire is under investigation, but it is believed to be accidental in nature,” the department said in a press release.
Eastham and Orleans fire departments assisted Wellfleet fire, and Wellfleet lifeguards helped evacuate the residents from the nearby home.
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