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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
World
Jon Brady & Lee Dalgetty

Bus catches fire with smoke billowing out on residential Scottish street

A Stagecoach bus caught fire on Wednesday afternoon, with thick smoke packing the street.

The bus, understood to be a 33 service, was passing through Cowdenbeath when it caught fire at around 3.30pm. Footage posted on social media by Fife Jammer Locations showed the incident on Moss Side Road, reports the Daily Record.

No injuries have been reported as of yet. Locals have speculated that the diesel engine on board the bus had 'run away'.

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This is a rare occurrence in diesel engines in which extra fuel is unwittingly fed into the engine while it is running, causing it to run above its normal operating limit.

One commenter said: "The engine is taking oil in through turbo inlet.. the engine won't switch off. Instead of running on diesel its running in engine oil, as the turbo spins faster the oil is sucked into engine faster.

"This is why it's called runaway, because the revs are running away. These buses are automatic so no way to stall it."

A local resident said the bus stopped outside her house, adding that the driver had been unable to turn off the engine, backing up the theory that the engine was out of control. Another added: "Will say the fire engine were there within 5 mins of us phoning them, everyone got off the bus safe but was very scary."

Stagecoach was contacted for comment. The firm said earlier on Twitter that a "technical issue" had delayed the 33 service from Cowdenbeath to Kirkcaldy and back.

It wrote: "Due to a technical issue, service 33 from Cowdenbeath Stuart place @ 15:13 did not operate. Also service 33 from Kirkcaldy @ 16:05 will not operate. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause."

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "We received a call at 3.26pm to reports of a double-decker bus alight at Smith Avenue in Cowdenbeath. Two appliances attended.

"Our crews made the vehicle safe and the stop order came in at 3.39pm. No injuries were reported."

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